A Brief Sketch of the History of

Christians for Peace in El Salvador February 2017

n the following pages, you will find a narrative of the as it relates primarily to the con- flicts of the late 20th century, when during a 12-year civil war, nearly 80,000 were killed or dis- I appeared. Our sketch, while not completely comprehensive, offers what we believe to be the best abridged summary of the events surrounding our Salvadoran sisters and brothers during and after the war, leading up to events in 2011. This pdf history is updated as needed to reflect the realities that are currently being experienced there. The most recent post updates to February 2012.

Frente Farabundo Martí para la Socioeconomic Data: Key Facts about Lib- eración Nacional (FMLN). He Literacy rate [%] 81.1 was elected in March 2009 for a Gross National Income (GNI), per five-year term. El Salvador capita, current US$ 2,340.00 Civil War: The 12-year civil war Population: 7.2 million people liv- Gross Domestic Product (GDP), was waged between a series of ing in El Salvador. per capita, international $4,781.28 right-wing and a loose The smallest and most densely- Proportion of population below the coalition of popular movements. populated country in continental national poverty line [%] 48.3 Nearly 80,000 people died or disap- America. Access to Resources: peared in this war which ended with Immigration: 2.66 million (cur- Proportion of population with ac- the UN-mediated Peace Accords rently estimated at 35 percent of cess to potable water services [%] 82 in January 1992. Political violence total population) Salvadorans living Proportion of population with ac- has diminished, but other forms of outside of El Salvador. cess to sewage disposal services [%] violence, including street crime and Religion: About 57% of the popu- 63 social cleansing groups, have led to lation are practicing Catholic, the Physicians ratio [10,000 hab.] 12.6 higher homicide levels than during balance belonging to mainline the time of the war. Protestant churches, evangelical Source: Informe Desarollo Huma- Demographic Data: Protestant sects, or not claiming any no, PNUD 2005 and Pan American Proportion of urban population [%] religion. Health Organization, Regional Core 60.1 Economics: 41% of the popula- Health Data Initiative; Technical Annual population growth rate [%] tion lives in poverty and 15% of the Health Information System. Wash- 1.7 population lives in extreme poverty. ington DC, 2005. U.S. State Depart- Life expectancy at birth [Years] The literacy rate is 83%. ment, 2011. Most data current as of 71.4 President: of the 2010 El Salvador: The Country and Its People noes in the Valley of the Hammocks, near numbers of people moved south and west by Kevin Murray the spot where El Salvador’s indigenous to avoid the fighting. Those shifts left Inside El Salvador inhabitants located their pre-Colombian three-quarters of the population living in

spiritual and commercial center. A taller, the southwestern section of the country, lmost exactly the size of Mas- more rugged mountain range traverses the including the capital. , alone, sachusetts, El Salvador ranks northern third of the country. The Lempa, now contains over a quarter of the nation’s A as both the smallest and most ’s largest river, cuts El people. New population patterns increased densely populated country on the Ameri- Salvador in two and forms a formidable pressure on land and water resources, ag- can continent. The “little thumb of Latin natural barrier between the traditionally gravating already serious environmental America” gained international prominence isolated eastern area, and the more popu- problems. in the 1980s when its brutal civil war lous and economically developed central placed it at the center of the East-West and western sections. Hydroelectric dams War and Peace located on the Lempa provide most of the geopolitical conflict. Since the arrival of the Spanish in the country’s electricity. The two main high- Hundreds of international correspon- early sixteenth century, a small group of ways—the Coastal Highway and the Pan- dents filled luxury hotels during the early people have extended their control over American Highway—cross the Lempa at 1980s, at times, beyond capacity. A decade El Salvador’s primary natural resource, large bridges, both of which were blown later, the world scarcely noticed as the its land. This economically and politically up by the guerrillas during the war. observer mission shipped powerful class—often referred to as the The war caused major population shifts off the last of its Toyota Land Cruisers and “fourteen families”—transformed itself in El Salvador. As many as one million moved out, leaving the protection of the over the years but continued to hold the Salvadorans left the country, at least half peace process to the Salvadorans them- reins of wealth and power in El Salvador of them emigrating to the . selves. In 2011, gang violence, the effects well into the twentieth century. With the war and market conditions limit- of globalization and economic troubles The civil war, which began in earnest in ing income from El Salvador’s traditional define the landscape of El Salvador 1980, is best understood as one in a long exports like and cotton, people El Salvador contains three distinct series of protests by those excluded from quickly became the country’s most im- geographical zones. A narrow plain runs that small circle of economic and political portant export. Dollars sent back home by along virtually all of the 120-miles of Pa- influence. The war’s primary protagonist, Salvadorans living abroad fueled the post- cific Coast. Immediately inland from the the Farabundo Martí Liberation Front war economic expansion and made U.S. coastal plain, a line of volcanoes traverse (FMLN), traces its heritage back through immigration policy a paramount concern the country in a remarkable straight line its namesake, Farabundo Martí, who fell for any in San Salvador. from east to west. The capital city, San before a firing squad in 1932, to the indig- Within the national borders, huge Salvador, sits nestled among the volca- enous leader, Atlacatl, who left his arrow

becomes the dominant crop and the coffee continue with the revolt. 30,000 peasants oligarchy consolidates into the famous “14 are subsequently killed under General El Salvador Timeline families.” Maximiliano Hernandez Martínez in La 1524 Spanish adventurer Pedro de Al- 1922 The National Guard formed, headed Matanza (The Massacre). Martí and the varado conquers El Salvador. by General Maximilano Martínez. leadership are publicly executed. Indig- 1540 Indigenous resistance defeated and 1931 March - The enous culture is systematically targeted El Salvador becomes a Spanish colony. wipes out the global coffee market. and thereafter practiced underground in Indigenous people removed from their Popular and indigenous rights movement order to hide identity. Martínez is hailed as coastal lands for use by Spanish indigo gains momentum, whose leaders include a hero by oligarchy, for saving the nation producers and forcibly resettled in the Augustín Farabundo from the “clutches of communism,” and mountainous areas. Martí. retains presidency until 1944. Memory of 1821 Central America gains indepen- December - Coup stays like a traumatic wound in dence from and the United Prov- led by Minister of War popular consciousness. inces of Central America are formed. General Martínez 1944 April - Military uprising against Mar- 1840 El Salvador becomes fully inde- to oust democrati- tínez, followed by a general strike in which pendent after the dissolution of the United cally-elected, Labor several civilians, including a university Provinces of Central America. Party founder, Arturo student, are killed. 1846 President introduc- Araujo. Martínez as- May - US Ambassador withdraws support es coffee growing. Production is intensified sumes power. for Martínez and he subsequently resigns. under president . Martinez 1932 Martí orga- October - Another coup brings Osmin

1881 Conservative president Zaldívar nizes a revolt but is captured and the plans Aguirre to power, commencing the so- decrees laws which force indigenous out for the uprising are discovered. Unaware called “Reign of Terror” in which the Na- of communal mountainous lands. Coffee of the capture, the indigenous peasants tional Workers Union is destroyed, its lead-

did not do it on their own. The US, after Contadora mediating group joined at times El Salvador: The Country and Its People failing to preserve the National Guard con- by Ecuador, Peru, and to in the leg of the Spanish invader Pedro trol in as the Sandinistas took form “The Eight Mediators.” Alvarado four and a half centuries earlier. over, began an ever-escalating military aid The Reagan Administration, escalating The 1932 massacre of 30,000 campesinos and involvement in El Salvador. to $6 billion the aid to El Salvador, re- and Marti’s execution, a traumatic wound France and recognized the jected the Contadora proposals as well as in the psyche of El Salvador, was car- insurgents as a legitimate force’ that there- the later Esquipulas I and II dialogues for ried out by the military who since have fore must be dealt within negotiations, Peace in Central America (Nicaragua and maintained control of the country. It was a suggestion anathema to Salvadoran El Salvador participating with , always the military leaders who won the oligarchy and military. Panama, Costa and Costa Rica in these last “elections” in El Salvador. (One of the Rica, and Colombia formed a Continued on next page death squads of the 1980s took the name of Maximiliano Hernández EL SALVADOR Martinez who ordered the slaughter

of 1932).

Frustrated by the electoral frauds EL SALVADOR

of 1972 and 1977 and the repres- L. de Güija sion that followed, progressive

professionals and mass popular organizations, just three weeks after Embalse Chalatenango Cerrón Grande Santa Ana the March 24, 1980 death-squad

L. de Coatepeque murder of Archbishop Oscar Rome- Ahuachapán ro, formed a Frente Democrático

Revolucionario (FDR). In October

San Francisco Sonsonate (Gotera) of 1980 the FDR was joined by the Nueva San Vicente San Salvador Salvador L. de Ilopango FMLN armed insurgents to form the FDR-FMLN, to overthrow the San Miguel

repressive military and restructure Cuscatlán Int'l Airport the economy for the benefit of the country’s poor majority. La Laguna de Unión Olomega Golfo Eighty thousand Salvadorans lost their lives in the war, the majority

of them unarmed civilian victims de Fonseca o

of state repression. Salvadorans did

0 10 20 30 40 km The boundaries and names shown and the designations the vast majority of the killing and used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations. the dying in the conflict, but they 0 10 20 30 mi

Map No. 3903 Rev. 3 UNITED NATIONS Department of Peacekeeping Operations May 2004 Cartographic Section

1969 Four-day long “Soccer War” with Archbishop Romero. The Organization of Honduras erupts over mistreatment of American States condemns El Salvador for El Salvador Timeline Salvadorans in Honduras and land short- the disappearance of prisoners, detention ers exiled, and repression of lower classes age issues. and torture in clandestine prisons. is universal. Aguirre eventually transfers 1972 José Napoleón Duarte of the 1979 January -Archbishop Romero at- power to General Castaneda Castro. Christian Democrats is elected president tends the Conference of Latin American 1948 Liberal military coup takes power but results are altered by the “Electoral Bishops (CELAM) in Puebla, Mexico. from General Castro, bringing to power Commission.” CELAM condemns National Security State a group of two civilian and three military 1976 General philosophy and reaffirms the Christian leaders, known as the “Revolution of 48.” is elected president in fraudulent elections. Base Communities and the option for the 1950 Colonel Oscar Osorio assumes Over 200 people peacefully protesting the poor, frustrating attempts of a few insid- presidency until 1956, after which power is election are killed. The ers aligned with U.S interests to undo the continuously transferred through carefully- boycotts the elections. direction given by 1968 Medellín Confer- prepared presidential successions. 1977 February - Monsignor Oscar Arnulfo ence. 1961 Military coup brings right-wing Romero named Archbishop of El Salvador. July - Sandinista victory in Nicaragua. National Conciliation Party (PCN) to power. March - Jesuit priest Rutilio Grande is There is escalating violence in El Salva- 1968 Latin American Catholic Bishops assassinated by members of the Death dor: kidnappings, assassinations, building meet in Medellín, Colombia. The popular Squads linked to the national seizures, hostage-taking, theology of liberation articulates a “prefer- security forces. He is the first of seven repression and killings by government ential option for the poor.” The movement priests killed in the next two years. The forces. Over 600 political killings occur emerges in El Salvador through the forma- Salvadoran Human Rights Commission during 1979. tion and development of Christian Base and the Socorro Jurídico Legal defense October 15 - General Romero is over- Communities. offices are opened under the patronage of Continued on next page tory with the breaking of that stalemate. region’s conflicts. An international tour in El Salvador: The Country and Its People Faced by what it saw as an ARENA gov- 1988 convinced guerrilla leader Joaquin ernment of the extreme right, the FMLN Villalobos that the international balance two dialogues). and Nicaragua stood planned a major military offensive. Some of forces had turned against the FMLN as by as strategic allies of the FMLN without saw the offensive as a final attempt to in- an armed movement. CNN could hardly military participation, though accused of cite an insurrection and topple the govern- find time to report on the 1989 offensive the same with meaningless evidence. The ment, others understood it as the only way because it occurred precisely as German United States, however, exerted influence to push ARENA to negotiate seriously for activists began knocking down the Berlin of an entirely different order. The only ex- peace. Wall. ternal actor that could have forced a reso- With the guerrillas occupying large ar- With the fall of the , the lution of the conflict in its early stages, the eas of the capital, the Army ordered aerial pretext for war to counter a supposed United States, not only failed to encourage bombardment. Although the military lead- USSR penetration in the region disap- such a resolution but fueled the conflict ership was criticized for bombing urban peared. The Sandinistas, moreover, lost the for more than a decade with its military neighborhoods, another decision proved 1990 , leaving the and economic aid to the government. much more damaging. The High Com- FMLN without its strategic ally. Neither The Catholic Archdiocese, the Lu- mand gave the order for a team of elite the government nor the FMLN crawled to theran, Episcopal and Emmanuel Baptist commandos to murder the members of the the negotiating table as a defeated force leaders and especially the Jesuits, had Jesuit community at the Central American but both had important reasons to seek an been organizing a National Dialogue University. That single act discredited the end to the war. A complex web of local while the Salva- US propaganda that it was ‘professionaliz- and international forces created a power- doran government ing’ the Armed Forces of El Salvador. The ful momentum behind a peace process and military were Jesuit murders, combined with the military that finally yielded an agreement on New intent on crush- lessons of the offensive, turned many of Year’s Eve, 1991. ing the FMLN. the main actors in the war—including The FMLN, since the George H.W. Bush administration, the 1983 death of The Chapultepec Accords the FMLN, the Salvadoran government, the more radical A series of carefully crafted agreements

Duarte leader, Cayetano and an important sector of the country’s put an end to the Salvadoran conflict.

Carpio, had modified its position to one of economic oligarchy—into supporters of a These began with an agreement reached in negotiations beginning with the dialogue negotiated solution. May 1990 on an agenda for peace nego- between President Duarte and the FMLN Although the was tiations and culminated with the sign- at La Palma in Chalatenango, October primarily a product of social and econom- ing of comprehensive Peace Accords in 1984. Hard liners behind Duarte prevented ic injustice in El Salvador, international Chapultepec, Mexico on January 16, 1992. any progress toward a peaceful solution. forces set the limits within which the From the beginning, the United Nations By the late 1980s the war reached a conflict developed and helped bring it to played an active role in support of the ne- military stalemate that many feared would an end. The Esquipulas II agreement initi- gotiations, a role that often involved direct drag on for another decade, yet 1989 ated the Central American peace process pressure on both sides to move the process proved a turning point in Salvadoran his- that sought negotiated solutions to all the beyond several sticking points.

transition to democracy. blood bath begins in the application of January 20 - Commemorating the an- “agrarian reform.” El Salvador Timeline niversary of the 1932 massacre, 200,000 Archbishop Romero protests, “We don’t thrown by junior officers. The first civilian- people of the Coordinador Revolucionario need reforms bathed in blood.” military Junta (3 civilians and 2 military) de las Masses (CRM) march to the capital. March 23 - Monsignor Romero calls for government is formed with a progressive Marchers on arrival to the Main Plaza are soldiers to obey the law of God and not to cabinet. The US increases military and fired upon from government buildings and kill their brothers. economic assistance. The “Old Guard” 40 are killed. March 24 - Monsignor Romero is killed military regain control and block proposed February 17 - Archbishop Romero writes at the Chapel of the Divina Providencia reforms. a letter to President Carter: “Please don’t by a member linked to the 1980 January 3 – The three civilians send any military, economic or diplomatic Salvadoran military. in the 5-man junta resign as do another aid to this government or there will be a April – The FD and the CRM joined to 30 top cabinet ministers in protest to the blood bath in my country.” form the Frente Democrático Revolucio- military repression; Archbishop Romero is Carter ignores his plea. nario (FDR) is formed at a mass rally at consulted and in agreement. The Christian March 6 - Agrarian Reform, designed by the National University. Enrique Alvarez Democrats join the military to form a new US earlier in Vietnam,decreed. Christian Cordoba, reformist son of a wealthy family, Junta government, whereas those who Democrat Hector Dada leaves the Junta is elected president. Juan Chacon head of quite the government formed the Frente and publishes a statement of conscience: campesino federation, FECCAS-UTC, is Democratico (FD) committed to reforms. “Who stays in this government betrays El elected Vice-President. January 6 - Archbishop Romero calls on Salvador.” He is joined by other members May - Major Roberto D’Aubuisson is all sectors of the society to “follow the star of the Christian Democrats. captured by troops loyal to Col. Majano (of Bethlehem), the liberation process of Duarte, recently returned from exile, and charged with planning the murder the people,” all inclusive, for a peaceful steps in for the Christian Democrats. A of Romero but he is released during a cords proceeded along a rocky path, full of doran economy remain to be answered, El Salvador: The Country and Its People slippery spots and narrow ledges. Marrack especially today. Land and housing values Goulding, special envoy of the UN Gen- skyrocketed and more cars jammed the By signing the Peace Accords, the eral Secretary, regularly flew in and out of already crowded streets of San Salvador. FMLN agreed to stop shooting and, San Salvador with his translator to defuse New fast food franchises and convenience eventually, to destroy its arms in return numerous crises that threatened to derail markets seemed to be going up on every for a long list of constitutional, institu- the peace process. Surviving several such corner. tional, and procedural changes designed to crises, the implementation process lurched The popular movements and the FMLN demilitarize and democratize Salvadoran toward its built-in litmus test, the 1994 shouted that the prosperity was not reach- society. The FMLN recognized both the elections.The complicated election sched- ing the poor. Constitution of 1983 (with amendments) ule mandated the election of the president, Ex fighters on both sides protested the and the ARENA government gave the the eighty-four deputies of the Legislative failure of the new government to fulfill assurance that the FMLN would partici- Assembly and all of the country’s 262 promises of land, jobs and education op- pate in the legal political process.Specific mayors in 1994. With the FMLN partici- portunities. provisions reduced the size of the military pating in elections for the first time, all the But the most serious questioning of neo- while others constitutionally reduced the ingredients were in place for the “elections liberalism as practiced by Cristiani came scope of its functions. The Peace Ac- of the century.” from his ARENA successor, Calderón Sol. cords placed public security functions in Augusto Ramirez Ocampo, head of the Calderón Sol announced a package of a new civilian police force and created an United Nations Observer Mission in El economic proposals with a radical open- independent government office led by an Salvador (ONUSAL), gave the first round ing of the Salvadoran economy to foreign ombudsman with broad powers to monitor of elections his seal of approval even be- investment and commercial competition. respect for human rights. fore anyone cast a ballot. Technical fraud The outrage of the business community Further constitutional reforms altered and other irregularities were so wide- caused Calderón Sol to tone down his both the judicial and electoral systems in spread, however, that other observers at plan, but his announcement exposed the the hope of making them function more the Central American University described structural weaknesses that economic efficiently and equitably. Although struc- the elections as the “fiasco of the century.” model. Seldom mentioned during the war, tural economic problems initially caused The rightist “death squad” party ARENA, ecological concerns are working their way the FMLN to take up arms, the Peace backed by the US, “won.” The wealthy onto the national agenda as the interrelated Accords contained few commitments for banker, Cristiani (the “peace” president), issues of deforestation, erosion, pesticide concrete economic changes. Rather than was sworn in as President, despite the seri- poisoning, mining (an issue relevant today attempt to legislate socioeconomic trans- ous charges of fraud. ARENA was firmly in 2011) and water quality and availability formation, the negotiators agreed to create in control of executive power for the rest begin to pose concrete and absolute limits a more open, democratic political system of this century. to social and economic development. through which economic changes could These issues await the political move- come later. The government remained ment or party that will put them before adamant throughout that its neoliberal eco- The Challenges Ahead the Salvadoran public in a compelling and nomic model was not up for negotiation. Important questions about the Salva- effective way. The implementation of the Peace Ac-

ing the political science and medical build- ings. El Salvador Timeline Socialist International, Sweden, West Germany and British Labor back the FDR. meeting of top officers. Majano is taken August - The Army attacks churches in out of command of troops. But US Am- , San Martín, Los Ranchos, San bassador Robert White has been given Miguel and Zacatecoluca. D’Aubuisson’s plan and he in turn sends October - Maria Magdalena of the Sal- it to the US State Department. (Ousted in vadoran Human Rights Commission is January 1981 White reveals existence of captured and murdered by the the assassination plan that stayed se- National Police. Two more priests are creted by both the Carter and the Reagan killed. Administrations.) October - The FDR formally constitutes a May 14 Army and paramilitary groups political-military alliance with the FMLN. massacre 600 campesinos at the Sum- November 28 The Army surrounds the and murdered. Evidence is overwhelming pul River. US Ambassador Robert White Jesuit High School where six FDR leaders to indicate it was the work of the National denies that the massacre occurred. are meeting to plan another Press Confer- Guard, but the government creates a story There is a crackdown on opposition ence. Twenty armed men enter the school that is backed by the US government. press. One editor is killed and another and capture the six. Their bodies appear The two massacres create a crisis in the press office is bombed. the next day in favorite National Guard government and in US relations, but it is June - The Army invades the National dumping places for their victims. resolved by naming Christian Democrat University killing 40 students. The Army December 2 Five days later four US Napoleon Duarte as president of a new occupies the University for the next four women missionaries are captured, raped, years sacking all equipment and destroy- Continued on next page

sign of weakness for the administration’s argument. In fact, the unique and fortu- El Salvador’s Model Democracy itous circumstances of El Salvador’s peace agreement with a guerrilla insurgency and

By David Holiday used this new-found attention in two ways. the country’s subsequent stability would From Current History, Feb. 2005 Saca went to the UN in September and make for difficult replication elsewhere. A praised the international community’s closer review of the Salvadoran “model” fter years in the political support for El Salvador, stating that his reveals that it depends on an extremely shadows, El Salvador has once country wanted to make its experience precarious set of domestic and internation- A again begun to receive atten- available to others by deploying Salvador- al conditions, bolstered most importantly tion from Washington. Both former U.S. an troops to Iraq. At home, however, Saca by that country’s loyal adherence to US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and has more frankly touted the Salvadoran policy prescriptions. Vice President Dick Cheney have cited military’s contribution as a response to a In a Veterans Day visit to El Salvador in it as a model for the potential success of specific request from its key friend and November, during which Rumsfeld award- democracy in Afghanistan and Iraq. The ally, the United States. ed Bronze Stars to six Salvadoran soldiers case of El Salvador, Bush administration who had distinguished themselves in Iraq, officials have argued, demonstrates how the defense secretary asserted that El the holding of free elections in the midst Salvador’s success proves that the “sweep of civil war or terrorist attacks will eventu- of human history is for freedom.” But it ally weaken insurgencies and bring about remains to be seen whether the electoral- democratic progress. Military officers have ist strategy, which partially contributed also point to the US military role in the to an end to fighting in El Salvador, will Salvadoran conflict as a model for assist- be effective in every setting. What really ing in the prosecution of the Colombian seems to matter for US officials is less the conflict. redemptive idea of free elections than the Democrats and other critics of adminis- electoral dominance of a conservative po- tration policy have preferred to argue, as Salvadoran soldiers in Iraq litical project keenly attuned to America’s has former State Department official Peter global priorities. Romero, that it was the involvement of Indeed, in thinking about the chal- the United Nations in mediating political lenges faced by the United States in Iraq negotiations and democratic institution and Afghanistan, precious few positive Pro-Market, Pro-American building in El Salvador in the early 1990s examples of establishing a democracy in In the immediate aftermath of the 1992 that should provide a lesion for Iraq. Those the face of continuing insurgency can be peace accords, El Salvador was cited efforts made El Salvador into one of the invoked. That the Bush administration has frequently by the United Nations and even most successful examples of peacemaking consistently relied on El Salvador—an the World Bank as a country that, with the in the history of the United Nations. other wise insignificant country in the international community’s help, effective- For his part, Salvadoran President Tony United States’ “backyard”—as a singular ly managed its transition from civil war to Saca—who took office in June 2004—has case of success might be interpreted as a peace and reconciliation. Thirteen years

the military direction of the war. pointed President. El Salvador Timeline March - D’Aubuisson founds and organiz- US aid in 1982 totals $264.2 million, but es the ARENA party who push the Chris- is now at the rate of million a day.. Junta. Bishop Rivera y Damas publicly tian Democrats in government to harden 1983 Massacre of peasants in the com- charges the government with the death of their policy of a military solution to the war munity of Las Hojas. The cumulative total the four religious women, the killing and and death squad repression of popular of political killings reaches 45,000. disappearances of priests and responsible protest. 1984 Duarte defeats D’Aubuisson in the for 90% of the 12,000 murders in the coun- December - Massacre of over almost May election runoffs. Duarte attempts try during 1980. 1,000 campesinos in Mozote, Morazán and peace talks with the FMLN without prior 1981 January - The head of the Land surrounding villages by the Atlacatl approval from the US. FMLN proposals for Reform Institute and two US advisors are Battalion. The massacre is denied by power-sharing are deemed “unacceptable” murdered by military death squad in the both the Salvadoran and US governments. by the Salvadoran military and the US Hotel Sheraton. US Reporter John Sullivan Total of 16,000 government. is captured and disappeared in the same dead from war and 1985 Four US marines are killed by the hotel. The FMLN attempts an unsuccessful government repres- FMLN in a San Salvador restaurant. general/final offensive. sion during 1981. Duarte’s daughter is kidnapped and later Captain Francisco Mena Sandoval insur- 1982 March - The released in exchange for FMLN prisoners. rects and destroys the Santa Ana garrison Legislative Assembly 1986 US aid reaches $625.4 million, over and joins the FMLN along with 14 other elects D’Aubuisson $1.5 million per day. A new round of peace officers. Reagan immediately pushes to the presidency to talks is sabotaged by military violation of through $30 million in military aid to El replace the existing ground rules. Disastrous earthquake in Salvador. US policy hardens under Reagan junta. The US rejects D’Aubuisson San Salvador kills 1,500 people. 10,000 and the US Southern Command takes over this choice. Banker Alvaro Magaña is ap- families are displaced and there is $1.5 bil- the American embassy compound in San without internal disciplinary problems and El Salvador’s Model Democracy Salvador is still one of the largest in Latin charges of corruption and abuse, but they America—perhaps as appropriate a sym- remain a positive example for the region. bol as any of the remaining importance of And the Salvadoran military, which had El Salvador to US policy. American dip- long dominated obliged elites by steal- lomats no longer stage-manage executive ing elections and repressing dissent, is branch decision-making (as they might essentially a nonentity in politics, with a have been seen to do during the civil war) changed role that limits its contact with or meddle overtly in Salvadoran politics. the civilian population. It has become in Given the ideological compatibility of effect a temporary employment agency for the then-governing Arena party with US the army of the unemployed. policy priorities, in particular with those The accords did not, however, touch se- of President George W. Bush’s administra- riously on structural social and economic tion, there was little need for such strong- issues. In this realm, the ruling party has arm diplomacy. been able over the past few years to imple- Until 2009, El Salvador had been ment a series of economic and foreign governed since 1989 by the conservative policy measures that more clearly bring Arena party, which, with few exceptions, it into alignment with the United States. has been able to control both law making Beginning in the early 1990s—even while by the Legislative Assembly and policy negotiating the peace—Arena started to implementation by the executive branch. liberalize the economy to such an extent Inaugurating its fourth consecutive presi- that El Salvador was being compared to dent in 2004, Arena will have governed El , which had undertaken the most Salvador for a full two decades by 2009, radical free market program in Latin making it undisputedly the most success- America. ful right-wing in contempo- One of the elements of this liberaliza- rary . tion, privatization of banks and tele- Arena deserves credit for follow- communications, escaped much public ing through with the implementation of scrutiny, but it is nevertheless widely held the 1992 peace accords, although most that President (1989- scholars would argue that it was UN 1994)—who signed the peace accord oversight— and even US pressure—that in 1992—profited personally from the assured government compliance on key is- financial sector deregulation. One of the sues. The governance reforms that formed two major daily newspapers, and the most later, only the US government viewed the the basic thrust of the accords have held sympathetic to the peace process and the Salvadoran model so favorably. firm. Cristiani administration, lamented the Long after declining levels of US The National Civilian Police are not Continued on next page foreign assistance might have justified it,

Zamora, returning from exile to enter overt 1989 January-The FMLN offers to partici- political activity, kisses the Salvadoran flag. pate in elections if they are postponed for El Salvador Timeline Refugees in the Mesa Grande Refugee 6 months. This proposal is rejected Camp in Honduras demand that they be The Bush Administration pressures the lion in damage. Much of the relief aid sent allowed to return to their homes in Chalat- Christian Democrats and ARENA to send is redirected to the military and/or stolen. enango and Cabañas. Massive repatria- representatives to discussions in Mexico. 1987 August - Costa Rican President Os- tions begin with the assistance of the UN The FMLN asks for a reduction in the size car Arias leads a regional peace initiative. High Commission of the military, civilian control, and prosecu- El Salvador signs the resulting Esquipulas on Refugees, the tion of assassins. The Army rejects this II Peace Accord. Red Cross, and proposal. Peace Summit begins. October - The National Reconciliation churches. The Armed Forces attack the FMLN field Commission, required by the peace plan, Tensions rise with hospital, raping and killing female doctors, is formed. Talks begin between the FMLM prospect of presi- paramedics and patients. and the Salvadoran Government. dential elections in March - Elections. The FMLN calls for Duarte proposes amnesty for political the US and in El a boycott and the turnout is low. Alfredo prisoners. Herbert Anaya of the Non-gov- Salvador. Cristiani of the ARENA party is elected ernmental Human Rights Death Squad kill- president. The new Cristiani Administration Commission speaks out against amnesty ings rise and the FMLN increases military is pro-free market and privatization. and is killed by the Death Squads. Some actions. September - The FMLN offers a truce if political parties withdraw from the National 1988 Under lead of Ignacio Ellacuria, the US were to stop military aid. There are Reconciliation Commission and the FMLN S.J. (left), the Catholic Church initiates the talks in Mexico. talks are broken off as a result. Duarte National Debate for Peace in which more October - The FMLN calls off talks after kisses the US flag during a state visit to than 60 organizations participate. Continued on next page the White House. Popular leader Rubén the first nation to recognize the ill-fated legislature. (In 2000, the FMLN won more El Salvador’s Model Democracy government that briefly overthrew Hugo seats than Arena, but still took less of the Chávez in Venezuela in 2002. (Rapid popular vote; in 2003 the former guerril- central failing of his administration as he recognition of the de facto government las won a larger share of both.) Because left office: not tackling corruption. The was, as former Mexican Foreign Minister it held fewer than 30 seats in the 84-seat particulars, however, were left to readers’ Jorge Castañeda revealed recently to the legislature, Arena has had to work with imagination, given the relative lack of any Mexican daily Reforma, part of a joint ef- other parties to reach the 43-vote threshold critical coverage during the five years of fort with the United States and Colombia.) necessary to pass most legislation. his presidency. Arena has also provided space at El Sal- Given the ideological gap with the In recent years, Arena’s economic vador’s international airport for facilities FMLN, Arena has consistently had to policies have boldly ventured into the to refuel and retool US airplanes used for rely on the votes of third parties— most adoption of a foreign —the US interdiction in the war on drugs. dollar—as El Salvador’s own, with the frequently the National Conciliation Party, Salvadoran support for the US effort dollarization of the economy in 2001. or PCN—to attain a simple majority in the in Iraq—it rotated three deployments of assembly. The PCN’s ideology is vaguely More recently, Arena shepherded the special forces there—is easily the most populist, and the party has often attracted Central American Free Trade Agreement important action it has taken in support (CAFTA) through the Salvadoran legis- Arena outcasts, but it is mainly know for of US strategic aims. With the pullout of its business acumen: selling its votes to the lature, the first of any signatory country Nicaraguan, Dominican, and Honduran (including the United States) to do so. highest bidder. In the case of dollarization, troops, El Salvador remained the only this major policy initiative was thrust on Even as a country that stands the least to Latin American nation to stand by the gain from CAFTA (given the high degree the country in late 2000 without time for United States in Iraq. Although gener- any public debate. Arena secured PCN of liberalization it has already under- ally out of harm’s way, Salvadorans did votes in part by agreeing to a trade-off: taken), El Salvador is the clear leader in come under fire as the insurgency spread Central America in pushing for free trade Arena would provide votes to grant im- to Najaf at the height of the war. One Sal- munity from prosecution to a PCN deputy, initiatives. vadoran soldier was killed, several more Indeed, Arena has been a loyal ally of Francisco Merino, if the PCN would were wounded, and US military spokes- provide the votes needed to approve dol- the United States on almost all relevant men praised their heroic efforts. larization. Merino, a former Arena vice foreign policy issues. Former President Francisco Flores president under Cristiani, had shot and nearly killed a police officer who tried to (1999-2004) was especially obsequi- Democracy’s Price ous. When Preside Bush visited in 2002, stop him while driving drunk. In pursuit of its policy goals, Arena Flores remarked that, of all the honors he After Arena’s poor showing in legisla- has frequently shut off political debate, had received in his lifetime, none was “so tive and municipal elections in 2003, then- and has occasionally engaged in perverse President Flores was roundly criticized— high as that of President Bush calling me political trade-offs because of its minority his friend.” Flores earned further points even by his predecessor, former President status in the legislature. Since the 2000 by battling rhetorically with Cuban leader Armando Calderón Sol (1994-1999)—for elections, the then-opposition FMLN Fidel Castro at hemispheric summits. his failure to build any kind of consensus party enjoyed a plurality in the Salvadoran around his various political initiatives. His government also infamously became

duras. With 2,000 more who follow they the establishment of the “Truth Commis- eventually form Ciudad Segundo Montes sion.” El Salvador Timeline near the Torola River. July - The United Nations Observer Mis- 1990 January - President Cristiani an- sion (ONUSAL) is officially established in the bombing of FENASTRAS, the country’s nounces the detention of military soldiers San Salvador. largest labor federation. accused of the Jesuit assassinations. September - An agreement is signed November - The FMLN launches a major May - The FMLN and the Salvadoran which addresses issues regarding the mili- offensive in San Salvador and San Miguel government sign the “Caracas Agreement” tary and National Civilian Police. All military and is able to occupy one-third of the capi- establishing an agenda and officers are acquitted of the Jesuit murders tal. The military responds by bombing and ground rules for peace negotiations. except for two counts. strafing the occupied neighborhoods and June - An agreement is signed in Costa November - Massachusetts Congress- then counter-attacks with troops, forcing Rica establishing guarantees for human man Joe Moakley releases evidence the FMLN to retreat. rights and authorizing a UN implicating high military command in the Six Jesuit priests and two women domes- monitoring role. planning of the Jesuit murders. tic workers at the Central American Univer- October - The US Congress votes to cut 1992 January - Final Peace Accords are sity (UCA) are assassinated by the Atlacatl aid to El Salvador, but by December Presi- signed in Chapultepec, Mexico, officially Battalion of the Armed Forces, some of dent Bush releases $48 million in military ending twelve years of civil war. whose members are aid to the Salvadoran Armed Forces. October - The land transfer process is graduates of the US Army 1991 January - President Bush orders the accepted in accordance with the Peace School of the . release of the balance of the military aid Accords. The first 500 refugees frozen by Congress. December - The FMLN is legally recog- walk back to Morazán April - Peace negotiators in Mexico reach nized as a political party. from the Colomoncagua refugee camp in Hon- Cristiani agreement on constitutional reforms and 1993 February - The first members of the counted on to oppose with equal ortho- winning double the number of votes it had El Salvador’s Model Democracy doxy. By ignoring or bypassing consulta- received the previous year. tion or compromise on any of these issues, In the 2004 presidential elections, Arena Arena ensures continued deep political candidate Saca distanced himself from The FMLN Bogeyman polarization in El Salvador. that aspect of the Flores administration, Arena and its supporting organizations Yet, as the 2004 presidential campaign winning office in part clearly exaggerated the threat posed by an underscored, Arena may be fully cognizant by pledging to reach FMLN victory. The FMLN put forth a rea- that extreme political polarization—under out to all parts of the sonable—if overly ambitious—campaign the right conditions—will usually work in electorate. In his initial platform and mostly positive publicity, its favor. The 2004 contest pitted Arena’s months as president, but it was unable to effectively counter Saca—a boyish radio announcer with little Saca came through on Arena’s claims. The images of guerrilla experience but excellent communication warfare evoked by its bearded Commu- his promises, organizing

Saca roundtable discussions skills—against the FMLN-nominated nist candidate prevailed, while FMLN and even reaching a consensus agree- Shafik Handal, the bearded septuagenarian statements revealed a less-than-measured ment on the issue of a revised anti-gang former leader of the Communist Party. approach to postwar democratic politics. law. (The government’s adoption of “iron The campaign itself devolved into the Shortly after the FMLN’s historic win in fist” policies against gangs, which are the nastiest, and also the most expensive, the 2003 legislative elections, for example, source of most petty crimes as well as a contest in the postwar period. While Arena FMLN leaders were emboldened to take significant number of homicides, has been foresaw apocalyptic doom should the out a full-page newspaper advertisement politically popular, but criticized on civil FMLN win (including an end to remittanc- in support of Castro’s crackdown on dis- rights grounds.) Nevertheless, this past es from foreign workers and the imposi- sidents and critical of the “terrorist” and December, Arena and PCN deputies opted tion of radical policies like those seen in “imperialist” Bush administration. The to bring approval of CAFTA to a vote at Cuba), or attempts by the left to disrupt FMLN’s choice of a vice presidential can- three in the morning, just hours before the the process should it lose, the FMLN held didate who had led a long and costly strike assembly was to adjourn for the Christmas an almost messianic belief in its electoral by public health employees the year before holidays, sharply limiting parliamentary invincibility, convinced that Arena could also contributed to a popular sense that the discussion from FMLN deputies opposed win only if the election were stolen. strike had been, at least in part, politically to the measure. The result of the campaign was a highly motivated to wear down the Arena govern- Arena justifies its governance strategy motivated electorate: about 2.1 million ment prior to elections. of political deal-making and dialogue- voters turned out to the polls, over 50 That said, Arena’s fear of what an avoidance by arguing that the opposition percent more than had participated in FMLN presidential victory might mean FMLN simply cannot be reasoned with. the previous year’s legislative contests, was misguided—as was that of numerous The Arena government, with support reversing a downward trend in participa- new voters and US officials like Special from the United States and other interna- tion sustained since the first post-peace Envoy Otto Reich, who weighed in against tional actors, has succeeded in placing off accord elections. Indeed, the FMLN did the FMLN a week before the elections. limits substantive discussion of many key improve its electoral take by an impressive It was entirely possible that the FMLN economic initiatives that the FMLN can be 50 percent, but Arena far outperformed it, Continued on next page

He is the third FMLN leader to be mur- dered in six weeks, signaling that the squads are still around. death 1994 March - “The Elections of the Cen- El Salvador Timeline tury” are held for presidential, legislative new National Civilian Police (PNC) gradu- and municipal offices. ate from the Academy. April - There is a presidential runoff March - The Truth Commission Report is election. The ARENA candidate Armando published detailing human rights viola- Calderón Sol backed with big money tions during the war. President Cristiani defeats the popular coalition candidate proposes a general amnesty agreement, Rubén Zamora. which the Salvadoran Legislative Assembly October - Conservative Kirio Waldo Sal- signs, pardoning all of those named in the gado denounces the corruption of govern- Truth Commission Report. ment officials. May - The PNC attacks disabled war November - Proposition 187 passes in veterans demonstrating in San Salvador, California, limiting access of resources to killing one. immigrants. September - US troops arrive in El Salva- The Army attacks a demonstration of bus dor for military exercises. owners, killing three. November - The US State Department Archbishop Monsignor Arturo Rivera y declassifies 12,000 documents revealing Damas dies of a heart attack. US policies during the Salvadoran civil war. December - There is a split in the left and December - Mario Lopez is assassinated. the ERP and RN, two of the FMLN’s five components, withdraw from the FMLN 1995 January - Military veterans coalition. occupy the Legislative Assembly for a third time to demand severance and benefits. President Calderón Sol announces a new economic plan which will accelerate privati- zation and the opening of the economy to foreign investment and competition April - Pope John Paul II names ultracon- servative bishop Fernando Saenz Lacalle as the new Archbishop of San Salvador, passing over popular auxilary bishop Gre- gorio Rosa Chavez. June - A pact is signed between ARENA and the new Democratic Party (PD) which is made up of members of the ERP and the RN. The Legislative Assembly passes an unpopular 13% increase in regressive value-added tax. November - The PNC forcibly evicts 300 veterans and war victim’s families from the governmental veteran’s service facility Continued on next page leave formidable challenges for the near (using a different methodology) as far less El Salvador’s Model Democracy future. than that stated by the government, mov- One of the strongest arguments the ing from 65 percent in 1992 to 43 percent would act more cautiously than its rhetoric government can make about the success of in 2002, while noting that remittances suggested should it reach higher echelons its economic policies over the past decade account for a significant part of that reduc- of political power. Moreover, the FMLN has been the reduction of overall poverty. tion. While these data are not insignificant, would likely face a situation similar other indicators provide greater evidence to that of Arena, in which its ability to for the challenges still facing El Salvador. approve new laws would depend on its ef- Some economists argue, for example, fectiveness in creating alliances with other that both income inequality and the parties in the legislature. concentration of wealth appear to have Along with small center-left parties, the increased in the period since the signing of FMLN has provided a crucial counterbal- the peace accords. ance to Arena in the Legislative Assembly, El Salvador’s social spending has and done far more to turn that body into increased, going from 5.4 percent of GDP one of deliberation and oversight. FMLN in 1994 to 8 percent in 2002, but it still municipal governments, including that of ranks among the lowest in Latin America. San Salvador (which has been in FMLN The World Bank estimates that secondary hands for the past eight years), have also education enrollment is 20 percent lower been relatively well governed. than what it should be for a country at El Paradoxically, the FMLN is closer than Salvador’s income level. Combined with a Arena to important goals of the United primary education system of poor quality, States (and the international community) scant financing for technical education of related to greater transparency and ac- workers, and a paucity of skilled laborers, countability in government affairs. But El Salvador is still at a distinct disadvan- this is clearly secondary to the apparently tage in competing in the world market. nonnegotiable position on economic Economic growth has also slowed in orthodoxy. recent years, despite the many liberaliza-

tion measures taken to ensure greater Dollars and Migrants investment and job creation. In the imme- diate aftermath of the peace accords, the El Salvador’s continued political po- larization is not necessarily the result of economic growth rate averaged between 6 percent and 7 percent. Since 1995, competing ideologies. One of the lowest According to the government, over- however, growth has averaged about 2.7 tax rates in the hemisphere and a growing all poverty levels fell dramatically from fiscal and trade deficit, combined with the 60 percent of the population in 1991 to percent; recent data suggest that the 2004 rate barely reached 2 percent. The Salva- state’s overall underinvestment in public 33 percent in 2003. The United Nations needs, have resulted in negligible gains Development Program in El Salvador has doran private sector, which is increasingly transnational in character, has not contrib- on many social and economic fronts and measured the reduction in the poverty rate

balance in elections held for Mayors and Hurricane Mitch strikes in Honduras and Deputies of the Legislative El Salvador El Salvador Timeline Assembly. The FMLN wins 27 out of 84 1999 March – Presidential elections. Legislative seats and the formerly domi- ARENA party candidate Francisco Flores killing one. Archbishop Lacalle defends the nant ARENA party wins 28 defeats Facundo Guardado of the FMLN. police action. seats. The FMLN, independently and in FMLN backers of a women ?? candidate December - The GAP signs an agree- coalition, wins 45% of the Municipal Gov- are incensed and FMLN voter turnout is ment with the National Labor Committee ernments, including the under 40%. permitting independent human rights moni- Mayor of San Salvador. 2000 March – Municipal and assembly toring of maquilas and agrees to reinstate US Army Chief of Staff orders a review elections. FMLN wins 31 seats in the As- workers terminated for labor organizing. to judge whether or not US soldiers who sembly; ARENA, 29; and the PCN, 14. 1996 January - State workers occupy the served as military advisors in El Salvador Hector Silva of the FMLN is elected National Cathedral in protest, demand- qualify for combat medals. Though they mayor of San Salvador. ing the reinstatement of 1,500 fired state were officially not in a combat situation, 21 2001 January – The Law of Monetary workers. US soldiers died under “enemy fire” during Integration proposed by President Flores February - Pope John Paul II visits El El Salvador’s civil war. takes effect, ostensibly converting El Sal- Salvador. 1998 The government begins to privatize vador to a dual-currency economy in which 1997 Criminal and gang activity continue public services. ANTEL, the telecommuni- both Salvadoran colones and US dollars to rise. Studies show that 20% of adults cations institution, is privatized. are valid. By June of this year, Colones living in San Salvador have been a victim The police declare “zero tolerance” of are no longer in use in urban centers and of armed assault during 1997. There are criminal activity. Army patrols are deployed quickly disappearing from rural area. on-going denunciations of the National in the streets to assist the police in fighting Earthquake hits El Salvador, killing 611 Civilian Police (PNC). crime. people and displacing over 1 million. March - The FMLN upsets the power not only reduces the poverty level in El country. (The Bush administration an- El Salvador’s Model Democracy Salvador, but also relieves demographic nounced in January 2005 an 18-month pressures on the limited opportunist for extension of TPS for Salvadorans.) In the uted to the local economy with increased employment. The downside is that migra- post-9-11 world, it is virtually inconceiv- investment over the past decade. tion breaks up families and drains human able that any other country would be in The promise of CAFTA, in this context, capital. However, remittances sent back by a position to replicate for its diaspora will only be borne out if greater domestic Salvadorans help to reduce overall levels population the kind of privileged status and foreign investment can stimulate ex- of poverty, stimulate employment, provide currently held by Salvadoran immigrants. port growth to offset the expected increase funds for school enrollment and construc- in imported goods. Until now, El Salva- tion, and contribute to the diversification dor’s job growth has come mainly through of economic activity as the agriculture An Unanswered Question cheap, unskilled labor in the maquila sec- sector declines. After decades of rule by one party, it tor, which currently provides some 90,000 While a considerable number of should come as no surprise that Arena’s jobs. Salvadoran immigrants continue to be political prospects have narrowed. However, with the end of the interna- undocumented, the United States also One recent poll showed that Salva- tional Multi-Fiber Agreement in 2005, and provides a kind of economic stimulus fro dorans consider economic issues their the resulting increased competition from migrants’ remittances through Temporary primary concern, topping public security China, most observes believe the textile Protected Status (TPS), which benefits for the first time in over a decade. Until maquilas will be significantly weakened some 250,000 Salvadorans. Functioning as now, Arena has been adept at hanging over the next few years. a kind of back-door bracero program, TPS on to power, deploying any necessary Since the end of the civil war, public covers Salvadorans more than any other capital—whether financial or political—to and private debt has also risen. As a result group of migrants. It allows them to work endure its continued political dominance. of dollarizing the economy in early 2001, and remain in the United States under a Arena has been consistently effective at El Salvador no longer controls its money “deferred enforced departure,” but without hiding its private differences from public supply. providing them with residency status. view and showing a unified front, as well Consequently, dollars most be recruited Although an outgrowth of the civil war as bolstering its claim before the inter- to pay public and private debt and to pur- period, TPS has become an almost perma- national community that it is the only chase intermediate and capital imports. A nent fixture of US-Salvadoran relations, responsible political option. The opposi- consistent strategy in the face of dollariza- with the Salvadoran government employ- tion FMLN—still widely accepted as the tion and declining primary exports has ing Republican lobbying firms to obtain most successful case in Latin America of been to continue to export labor. its frequent renewal. US approval of TPS a guerrilla movement transformed into a Migration and remittances have argu- once was based on unsafe political condi- political party—has yet to figure out how ably done more to ensure El Salvador’s tions in El Salvador. Today it represents an to capitalize on the discontent generated economic stability than any implicit acknowledgement that repatriat- by Arena policies. Recent internal elec- measure taken by the state. Up to 2 ing such a large number of Salvadorans tions in the FMLN constitute important— million Salvadorans—a full quarter of the would be devastating—not to mention albeit flawed—first steps toward internal total population—reside abroad, mainly potentially destabilizing—for their home democracy, but they have also had the in the United States. Their flight abroad

the US-Central American Free Trade Legislative Assembly, taking 31 of the 84 Agreement (CAFTA). Bush’s arrival to El seats, while ARENA reduces its number of El Salvador Timeline Salvador on the anniversary of Archbishop seats to 27. Oscar Romero’s assassination forces the June – In her last week as US Ambas- Epicenter is 30 miles off the western coast rescheduling of a number of commemo- sador to El Salvador, Rose Likins makes of Usulutan and the quake registers 7.6 rative events. Bush himself makes no men- public statements regarding the upcoming on the Richter scale; severe damage to tion of the Archbishop. presidential elections, warning that the homes and infrastructure and extensive September – A general strike of health FMLN has “generated concern” and Sal- job-loss result. care workers begins, in protest of the vadorans should be aware that an FMLN February – A second earthquake rocks government’s plans to privatize the health victory in the elections could “threaten El Salvador, with an epicenter just east of care system. Tens of thousands take to the investment.” Lake Ilopango and registering a 6.6 on the streets in “White Marches.” July – President Flores decrees a “War Richter scale. 274 people are killed and Construction of the Anillo Periferico, the on Gangs” in the form of a new mandate, additional homes and infrastructure are peripheral beltway around San Salvador, the mano dura, or “Iron Fist.” destroyed. All told, one sixth of the Salva- begins, despite enormous citizen opposi- In the absence of the Legislature’s ap- doran population has serious or permanent tion. proval, the mandate is implemented and damage to their homes. 2003 January – First round of CAFTA several hundred suspected gang mem- September – In the wake of the terrorist negotiations. Nine rounds of talks are held bers are arrested within the first few days. attacks against the United States, airport between January 2003 and January Judges refuse to sentence those arrested security is federalized at El 2004, when negotiations come to an end. and the majority are subsequently released Salvador’s Comalapa International March - Municipal elections result in a due to the unconstitutionality and inappli- Airport. significant loss of power for the ARENA cability of the mandate. 2002 March – US President George W party. FMLN assumes plurality in the Continued on next page Bush visits Central America to promote Beyond Abomination: The Massacre at the Sumpul

From Salvanet, Spring 2009 that were committed May 14, 1980. ARENA party; one of the worst mistakes to be made, since a criminal of this kind n May 14, 1980, troops from the The Testimony of Julio Rivera: I want shouldn’t hold public office during what 1st military detachment of Cha- to begin by acknowledging this honorable remains of his or her life. O latenango, the National Guard tribunal. As has been said before, for the On March 11, 1980, my mother was and elements of ORDEN (Organizacion first time in 29 years, we are being given killed along with the rest of my brothers. Democratica Nacionalista) executed one the opportunity to be heard, and to have I was left dumped in a stream, completely of the most emblematic massacres of the that chance we feel useful and valued. helpless. A woman found me, took me to Salvadoran war. In the Sumpul River, We feel that the victims as well as we, the her house and hid me, because the chief of dozens of Salvadoran men and women survivors, are being given the place that the paramilitaries had found out that I had were killed. The majority was made up of we deserve. While we struggle and work survived and had said: “My mission is to children, women and the elderly who were towards vindication for the victims, others leave no seed from this family.” trying to flee to Honduras, but the military want to erase them and are willing to put He carried out three new operatives, of that country had blocked their path forth all the money necessary in order to searching house by house in order to kill In March 2009 an International Tri- blot out history, so that the victims remain me and thus fulfill his threat against the bunal for the Application of Restorative forgotten. Rivera family. I was only 7 years old. Justice was set up at the Jesuit Univer- So, I reiterate my thanks to all of you. Earlier my two aunts had run the same sity of Central America in El Salvador. My name is Julio Ernaldo Rivera Guar- luck. They had been raped and tortured. Magistrates from El Salvador, Brazil and dado. Today I am 37 years old, but in the They were dragged down a cobbled street Spain were there to hear the testimony of year of the massacre I was 7. I am the only and then were killed, their lives taken the victims and survivors of the grave hu- survivor of a family. All were killed by away. The 14th of May, in Las Aradas, man rights abuses that took place during this cruel and unjust war. another 13 members of my family were El Salvador’s 12-year civil war, including The 16th of January 1980, my first killed. My mother, my aunts, and all my that at the Sumpul River. The Tribunal op- brother, the most beloved, was killed. brothers were already dead; only my erated with the intention of contributing to He was 13. He was the one that I played cousins were still alive, but they were a collective consciousness that recognizes with, fought with, the one who I went with killed in the Sumpul massacre. That’s how the dignity of the victims and the need to to bring food to my father when he was my family was wiped out, 20 members demand that the truth be spoken about El working in the fields. The National Guard brutally killed without having been guer- Salvador’s history. from Las Vueltas killed him with three rillas—they were civilians. Twenty-nine years after the massacre shots from a gun called a G-3, along with My mother was a member of the Com- at the Sumpul River in which Julio Rivera the involvement of the paramilitary agents mittee for Political Prisoners and the lost what was left of his family, he stood from ORDEN, who cut off his head with Disappeared, and the crime of the rest before the International Tribunal for the three machetes. One of the perpetrators of of my brothers and of my family was to Application of Restorative Justice in El this crime was, until recently, the mayor belong to the Field Workers Union, which Salvador and gave witness to the atrocities of the municipality of Las Vueltas for the struggled peacefully— having sit-ins at

Salvadoran judicial system. UCA leaders underscores concerns about prison condi- pursue the case within the Inter-American tions and the Salvadoran penal system, El Salvador Timeline Court. including overcrowding and inadequate In support of the occupation of Iraq, March – Presidential elections. ARENA oversight. President Flores sends Salvadoran troops candidate Tony Saca earns 57% of votes September – El Salvador is brought to aid in reconstruction. to defeat of the FMLN before the Inter-American Court of Human in the first round. Unprecedented voter Rights, accused of the violation of human turnout of over 67% attributed to ARENA´s rights for the forced disappearance of the multimillion-dollar campaign, characterized Serrano Cruz sisters, Ernestina and Er- by the use of fear tactics. linda. The Association Pro-Busqueda and July – Over 1500 activists from through- Center for Justice and International Rights out Central America converge in San Sal- (CEJIR) bring the case before the court, vador for the Fifth Mesoamerican Forum: accusing El Salvador for the disappear- Building Grassroots Power for Self-Deter- ance of infants during a military operation mination. Activities center on consolidating carried out in Chalatenango in 1982. resistance against The federal district court in Fresno, CAFTA, the Plan Puebla Panama and California issues a historic decision holding Free Trade Area of Americas. Modesto resident and former Salvadoran August – A confrontation between com- military officer Alvaro Saravia responsible 2004 January – The Supreme Court mon prisoners and members of the 18th for his role in the assassination of Arch- denies the final appeal to reopen the Street Gang at the La Esperanza Prison in bishop Oscar Romero. The judge orders case against the murderers of the Jesuits, Mariona, outside of San Salvador, leaves Saravia to pay $10 million to the plaintiff, a exhausting all access to justice within the 31 dead and 30 wounded. The incident relative of the Archbishop, characterizing Massacre at the Sumpul the cathedral, participating in concentra- tions and marches here, in San Salvador- -to ask for just salaries and respect for life and human rights. For that, my whole fam- ily was wiped out. When I see those that have family in the United States and other countries, and they call them on the phone, I can’t say that I don’t feel a little jealous, asking, “Why aren’t there telephones in heaven?” Everyone has the opportunity, the pleasure of having the phone ring and receiving a call from their relative who is in another country; it’s only me that doesn’t have anyone to receive calls from. I’m going to tell everything I can remember about the massacre. At 7 years old I was blessed because I was able to cross the Sumpul River with my father a few days before. On the 13th of May, Las Rio Sumpul, near Chalatenango Arades was already militarized. This is an said initially, that we are being heard. This area that lends itself strategically for such the Sumpul River. vindicates us and inspires us to continue a crime because it is completely surround- They grabbed the children right out of our struggle, with renewed strength, for ed by mountainous land, and on the other the hands of the Salvadoran soldiers, prac- justice to be done. side is the angry river. That day I found tically from the guns, and took them to We are not asking for vengeance or for myself in Honduran territory, in a small the other side. The soldiers opposed them the death penalty for the perpetrators and town called San Jose. but the two priests and the layman battled masterminds of this crime; we are simply Many people fought to save theirlives and fought with pushes, with elbows, and asking that justice be done and that the and, yes, some, thank God,made it. How in this way they saved the lives of many truth be established. could I not mentionhere—since there is children as well as several elderly people You can’t imagine how sad and regretta- so much talk of forefathers, of heroes— and women. These people deserve to be ble it is for us when the governments that Father Beto, a North American; Father on this street that I hear is called the Street have come after the massacre, including Fausto Millo, a Honduran; and the layman, of the Forefathers. One of them has since the current one, as well as the media, deny Mario Aguiñal, who faced the danger from died. So that was how we lived this ter- the existence of this crime and its victims. the Honduran side and, face-to-face with rible story. That was what my eyes could They are against keeping memory and his- the soldiers of that country, they broke the see and what my ears were able to hear. It tory alive. And by these means, we have military enclosure and got in the middle of is already an achievement, as I Continued on next page

49-35 in favor of passing the agreement, to ask forgiveness publicly for not having El Salvador Timeline which President Tony Saca claims will at- achieved justice in this case. tract investment and create jobs. May – Tropical depression Adrian causes the murder as a crime against humanity 2005 February – A security guard at the not only alarm in El Salvador, but the and stating that “the damages are of a Salvadoran Lutheran University is bound, admittance of the Salvadoran government magnitude that is hardly describable.” blindfolded and hung from a tree, his body that it was “not prepared” to confront the November – Gilberto Soto, in El Salvador marked with signs of torture. University passing of a hurricane, nor the torrential to organize Central American port workers spokespeople assert that robbery was rains that Adrian brought. It announces and to document violations of the rights of not the principal motive of the attack, but the possible implementation of a Law of workers of the Maersk Shipping Company, is intended to be a message of intimida- Mitigation of Natural Disasters and the and a long time organizer with the tion against the university's commitment creation of an economic fund for disasters International Brotherhood of Teamsters to poor and marginalized sectors of El in order to be “better prepared” for another (IBT), is killed. Soto is approached by two Salvador. natural disaster. men outside his mother’s home in Usulu- March – The Inter-American Court of June – The 18th was the most violent day tan, who shoot and kill him at close range. Human Rights condemns the Salvadoran so far in 2005, according to the National It is clear that the sole intent was to kill state in the case of the disappeared Ser- Civilian Police, with 23 homicides com- Soto, despite investigators' later claim that rano sisters. In the sentence, which cannot mitted in one day. According to the criteria he was killed during a robbery. be appealed, the state is ordered to create of the UN, violence in El Salvador has December – El Salvador becomes the a national search commission, create a reached epidemic levels. first country in Central America to ratify national day of disappeared children, give July – House lawmakers narrowly ap- DR-CAFTA, the free trade agreement be- economic reparations to the families of prove the Central American Free Trade tween the United States, Central America the victims and the representatives of the Agreement (CAFTA) in one of the closest and the Dominican . The vote is victims (Pro-Busqueda and CEJIR), and Continued on next page God because only God can forgive. Yes, a true investigation, not rigged or politi- Massacre at the Sumpul there can be forgiveness, but not forget- cal, but one that establishes justice and the been witnesses when there are people like ting. How am I going to forget what I truth. Reparation is also necessary—not Benjamin Cuellar that ask for justice and lived through on that 14th of May in 1980 with the idea of profiting economically to establish the truth, since there are many on the banks of the Sumpul? from the victims, because just like one of government functionaries, ministers, and Jesus Guardado was the name of the you said, “You don’t pay for someone’s legislators who profoundly deny that these killer. He was a brother-cousin of ours, life with money.” But yes, there must be a massacres were committed. They claim disgracefully. He gave the order that they way to make reparation. that this was combat and that the sup- kill my family. And not content with that, We ask that they recognize these histori- posed people that died—few, according he said, “This one I’ll take care of,” refer- cal days like the Sumpul massacre, the to them—were guerrillas, terrorists. This ring to my mother, who was his sister- massacre at , and so many oth- is the worst offense that our victims can cousin. “This one I want to kill person- ers—that they be commemorated national- suffer, and the worst offense that they can ally.” I saw how my mother was pulled ly instead of being denied; that this reality do to us as survivors. by the hair, thrown down with a terrible not be ignored. The basic and essential They say that we shouldn’t open the kick to the head, and stabbed. How can the part, it seems to me, is that what happened wounds, and they’re right—they are government think they have the compe- be recognized, given the value and impor- already open, and you can’t open what’s tence and authority to ask me to forget! tance that the victims deserve, that there already opened, right? These wounds This is not resentment—this is justice, be reparations, and that the masterminds are bleeding and they can’t be closed and this is truth. Of course there should and perpetrators ask for forgiveness so until they are treated, until all this pain is be forgiveness when the perpetrators and that there can be real reconciliation. The healed, all this anguish and all this sad- masterminds, above all, are able to stand laws do not establish that you must ask ness; they are only going to heal when there in front of me—or if their legs are for forgiveness, but it seems to me that the there is a true process of reconciliation. trembling too much, sitting— and rec- laws also didn’t say that you could kill so The previous governments, the current ognize that they committed these crimes indiscriminately, nor did they establish, as one, and the one that is coming, have a here, that they carried out these massacres, one man, Jose Ramon (one of the invited huge responsibility to establish the truth that they did it…and they ask for forgive- judges), said to me, that the children could and do justice, and they must do that. ness. be run roughshod. Nevertheless, in this They can identify those that were in the Only like this can we give them forgive- country, when it is convenient, the laws military detachment, in the National ness. When I was a little boy and went to are ignored and all kinds of atrocities are Guard, or in the different security forces catechism class to prepare for my First committed. in the moment that these massacres were Communion, they told me that the first And as Monseñor Romero said: If one committed. The Ministry of Defense, of step to being forgiven is to recognize the day they destroy my work and they kill us, Public Security and Justice, the Attorney sin. But these masterminds and perpetra- each one of you will become a micro- General—they can establish truth and jus- tors don’t recognize their sin, and they phone for the truth. That is what I want to tice. That is what we are asking of them. deny the existence of these crimes. ask of you so that you can overcome and The former president of the Republic, This is the call that we want to make to transcend this, and it can be known the Alfredo Cristiani, declared that there be the government in power, to the one that whole world over what really happened in forgiveness and forgetting. He usurped is coming and to those that will come: for our country.

dor, bringing torrential rains, floods, and approves ILEA. landslides; 300 communities are affected December – The governments of El El Salvador Timeline by the floods, with over 54,000 people Salvador and the U.S. sign an agree- forced to flee their homes. The preliminary ment over the Millenium Challenge funds, votes of the year, 217-215. The administra- estimate of damages is $230 million USD. earmarking $461 million for “development” tion portrayed the trade pact as a matter Although authorities ensured that they projects in El Salvador. The inclusion of of national security and economic urgency were ready to confront a catastrophe, the mining projects is protested, as opponents while opponents criticized the legislation results demonstrate the opposite. The argue that mining is very damaging to the for its lack of protections for human rights, eruption of the Santa Ana volcano leads to environment and local populations. worker rights and the environment. even more destructive floods and mud- 2006 January – The Central American The Salvadoran and US governments slides. Hurricane Stan has similar effects Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), which sign an agreement to open the Internation- throughout Central American and southern was supposed to go into effect on January al Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in El Mexico. 1, is on hold because the six other member Salvador. The first course at ILEA begins, November – Father Jon de Cortina, nations still have not written, reformed or operating out of the Comalapa Air Force “friend of the poor” and of disappeared repealed laws to comply with the deal's Base, without official ratification from the children, dies. Father Cortina, a Jesuit strict terms on various matters. National Assembly. priest who spent years during and after FMLN standard bearer and former presi- September – Hurricane Rita causes four the war accompanying poor communities dential candidate Shafik Handal dies at the deaths, 490 evacuees, serious flooding throughout age of 75 after suffering a heart attack at and much damage in El Salvador. The gov- Chalatenango, founded the Association the airport upon arrival from the inaugura- ernment and municipality of San Salvador Pro-Búsqueda, which works to reunite tion ceremony of ’s president, Evo create a national emergency alert system, disappeared children with their families. Morales. Handal was a senior leader of which goes into effect at level orange. The Salvadoran Legislative Assembly the FMLN and led the FMLN delegation in October – Hurricane Stan hits El Salva- El Salvador: A New President, A New Time

From Salvanet, Spring 2009 unexpected new ways of organizing and exercising power. giving meaning to democracy in Salvador. The main task for the new govern- n almost 30 years since the killing of It could mean recovering the memory, the ment and the people is to settle into a new Archbishop Oscar Romero, no presi- spirituality and the deep Christian values institutional paradigm, to set practical I dent of El Salvador has spoken of or taught and standards about what good governance referred to him in public. With the election exempli- means. This can prevent any easy return of Mauricio Funes as the new Salvadoran fied by to the traditional practices of impunity and president, that has changed. Arch- unaccountability. Despite the triumph of a A few hours after the polls closed bishop candidate from a party other than ARENA, March 15, 2009, the newly elected presi- Romero. a lot of power still remains in the hands of dent committed to conduct the policies Second, those who have enjoyed it for so long and, of his government under the light of the how- through it, have secured so many privi- word and priorities taught by Archbishop ever, the leges for themselves. They are not inclined Romero. This is just one sign of the many traditional to accept easily the rules of democracy. changes taking place in El Salvador. power In the two years since Mauricio Funes’ It is not a coincidence that the same centers, ascendancy to the Presidential post, month of the — which economic hardship and political realities March—gave birth to the first Interna- have have shaped his administration. Much of tional Tribunal for the Application of always the labors envisioned at the outset of his Restorative Justice in El Salvador. Here Funes turned leadership have fallen to what might be members of the Salvadoran civil society their backs to Archbishop Romero, seem called a political expediency or reality. and lawyers from El Salvador and abroad, to be preparing to do anything and every- Funes’ government has resorted to some acting as magistrates, heard for the first thing to prevail and derail the new spirit of the same “Strong Hand” tactics against time in this country the testimony of the wanting to be born. Salvadoran youth (the target is supposedly victims and survivors of the grave human So, a new political and social scenario gang members but the fear is that at-risk rights abuses that took place during the of increasing complexity has opened up in youth fall into harm’s way as well when 12-year civil war. El Salvador. There are more questions than soldiers patrol the streets and byways of El It cannot be anticipated what new mani- answers and, by no means, will it remain Salvador). festations there will be of the Salvadoran free from conflicts and contradictions. Economic realities also have shaped the people’s will for change. But two things There is nothing that can help us antici- outcome, so far, of the Funes administra- are pretty clear. pate how the new government, which has tion. When “Team Saca” departed the First, there is under way a whole new raised so many expectations, will interact political stage, the coffers in the country’s exercise of citizen participation. This with the people. There is nothing useful to treasury were woefully dry, and remain in popular energy and creativity might spawn be found in the old practices and style of that shape even today.

approves the “Anti-Terrorist Law,” which Violence in the Ciudad Barrios and Cha- includes sentences of up to 86 years latenango prisons left six inmates dead El Salvador Timeline in prison for those who commit “terror- ist” and all prisons on maximum alert. Violence peace talks that finally ended the 12-year acts, including many forms of social was predicted by reform advocates after civil war. protest. Social movements and the FMLN Governance Minister René Figueroa an- March – ARENA wins 42 seats in the Leg- fear that this law will be used to repress al- nounced a severe prison reform package islative Assembly, the FMLN wins 32. The ternative or anti-government voices, while that drastically limits inmates' visitation PCN, PDC, and CD win 11, 5 and 2 seats the government claims it is to help ensure rights. respectively. FMLN Candidate Violeta public safety. 2007 January – According to a Depart- Menjivar narrowly wins the San Salvador October – Doctors and nurses from El ment of Security report, 3,761 homicides mayoral race after a manual recount of Salvador's union of social security hospital were committed in 2006, exactly the same contested votes, beating ARENA candidate employees go on strike for number as in 2005. by 44 votes. Menjivar is the first woman to weeks in 46 different public hospitals and February – On February 20, three Sal- become mayor of San Salvador. clinics throughout El Salvador. Their most vadoran deputies to the Central American July – A demonstration against recent significant demand is an Parliament (PARLACEN), government-sanctioned hikes in bus fares increase in salary. representatives of ARENA, are killed and electricity rates turns violent as police November – Two Lutheran pastors, along with their driver on their way to a and select demonstrators exchange fire. Francisco and Jesus Carillo, husband and PARLACEN meeting in Guatemala. There Two police officers are shot to death and wife, were murdered as they were leaving is widespread speculation that their deaths 10 are wounded by gunfire; students and a church in the municipality of Jayaque. are related to drug trafficking or organized other protesters fled and a University Dean While the motive behind the double murder crime. Guatemalan authorities arrest four was struck by a bullet. is unclear, both were active in defending police officers, including the former director September – The Legislative Assembly human rights in the community. Continued on next page The Evolution of US-Salvadoran Policy: Carter to Obama

he US military and economic presence in Central democratic reforms. America since the beginning of the twentieth century This combination formed the basis of US “Low-Intensity T had established a strong US influence in El Salvador. Conflict Strategy” (LIC). Much had changed by late 1994. At that Jimmy Carter’s 1979 decision to approve the delivery of military time, the State Department circulated a tepid document simply aid, however, marked the beginning of a radical change in the entitled, “US Policy Toward El Salvador.” Under the heading relationship between the two “Key Goals,” it offered the following summary: countries. During the 1980s “US objectives in El Salvador include promoting complete the United States assumed a implementation of the 1992 peace accords between the Govern- preponderant role in Salvadoran ment of El Salvador (GOES) and the Farabundo Martí National internal affairs and international Liberation Front (FMLN); supporting the rule of law, judicial relations. The scope of US influ- reform and democratic institutions; encouraging national recon- ence led one analyst to conclude ciliation; and helping El Salvador achieve national reconstruction that, “There are few examples in and economic growth.” the world where the aid of one Absent from the fanfare accompanying the release of the docu- country has become so inti- ments was an acknowledgment that they serve as a vindication mately related to the politics, the of the critique of US policy advanced throughout the 1980s by Carter economy, and the institutionality of another country as in the case solidarity groups, human rights monitors, advocacy groups, and of the United States—El Salvador relations.” international aid organizations. For their insistence on telling the During the period 1980-92, United States aid of all types to El truth about the “big lie” in El Salvador, more than one hundred Salvador approached $6 billion, making El Salvador one of the groups opposing US policy became targets of an FBI campaign top five recipients of US foreign aid during that time. Although of infiltration, surveillance, and intimidation. most of the assistance was nominally considered economic aid, Salvadoran critics did not ignore the role of the United the US Congress determined that 75 percent of US aid was “war- States in the pushing and shoving that led to the signing of the related.” Chapultepec Accord. This effort does not, however, balance 10 The State Department outlined the main principles and features years of support for a military solution on the scales of history. of a policy in its January 1989 statement “El Salvador: The Battle for Democracy.” Against all logic, the “Soviet menace” continued to guide the policy and there was no mention of the necessity of In Search of a Clinton Policy a negotiated solution to the war. The policy was “driven by the The election of Bill Clinton as US president in late 1992 led American obsession, given new impetus by the Reagan Doctrine, to much speculation among Salvadorans about future directions to draw the line against [communist] gains throughout the Third in US policy toward their country. Armando Calderón Sol, then World.” When the George H.W. Bush administration took office, still mayor of San Salvador and a leading presidential hopeful, official US policy still called for the defeat of the FMLN through did not conceal his distaste for a potential Clinton presidency. On a combination of unrelenting, if limited, military power and the night of the U.S. elections, Calderón Sol complained that a

water and re-taking the installations of the Communities for the Development of El community-owned and run water system. Salvador (CRIPDES) who were intercepted El Salvador Timeline Seven communities in the area built the and forcibly removed from their vehicle. of the organized crime division of Guate- water system in 1992 and administered The 14 arrestees are flown to a police malan National Civil Police, and accuse their water via community-elected Directive station in and, while flying them of the murders. Two days later, Boards. The community has faced violent over Lake Suchitlan, the police threaten to they are killed in their cells at the Cuilapa police intervention and has been repeat- throw them into the lake below. prison. edly denied justice by the ARENA Mayor of On July 7th , Ana Lucia Fuentes de Paz, March – Rufina Amaya, the only survivor Tacuba. The three community leaders are Specialized Judge for Organized Crime, of the , dies of a heart released July 19th, awaiting trial. a new court system established by Anti- attack in a hospital in San Miguel. She was July – A peaceful protest in Suchitoto of Terrorist Law, sentences 13 of the activists an example of courage and the pursuit of the unveiling of President Saca's “National to three months of preventative detention justice and continued to tell the story of her Decentralization Policy” ends in police to allow the public prosecutor to gather people until her death. violence and repression. The new policy more evidence to support the charges of Maria Julia Hernandez, Director of Tutela is seen as a back-door war to privatization acts of terrorism, public disorder and illicit Legal, the Archdiocesan Commission of of water. The police respond to peaceful association. International solidarity groups Justice and Peace, dies after being hospi- protesters with tear gas, pepper spray, and demonstrate and demand the talized for two weeks. She tirelessly fought rubber bullets. Five people are wounded release of these political prisoners. All of for human rights and justice in El Salvador by the rubber bullets, 18 so gravely af- the prisoners were released on provisional throughout her life. fected by the gases that they required liberty by July 26th, awaiting an October June – Three leaders in the municipality attention at the health clinic. Fourteen trial. of Tacuba, in the department of Ahuacha- protesters are arrested, including four staff The FMLN has decided to run Carlos pan, are arrested for defending their members from the Association of Rural Mauricio Funes Cartegena in the 2008 Clinton victory would hurt El Salvador and even went so far as to fall 1993 meeting with Central American leaders, President Clin- accuse Hillary Clinton of donating to the Committee in Solidarity ton emphasized the importance of broadening trade contacts and with the People of El Salvador (CISPES), thereby, in Calderón working closely with international financial institutions to offset Sol’s view confirming the Clinton’s left-wing extremism. Clinton declining aid levels.” Some observers suggested that Clinton was took office right after that critical moment in the peace process moving toward a “trade-not-aid” posture in relation to Central when the FMLN completed its formal disarmament. America. Given their place in the international economy, the Sal- When, in his inaugural speech, the new President made only vadorans fear that they may well end with very little of either. a single reference to Latin America—and that to Mexico and Fast forward to March 2002, when President George Bush the Free Trade Agreement—Salvadorans felt certain that their spent a few hours in El Salvador. He didn’t come to learn or to country was well on its way along the slippery track from the listen. He didn’t come to hear the voice of the majority popula- maximum priority to the almost forgotten. Their only hope was tion still reeling from 12 years of civil war, rising poverty, high that the new president and the Congress would recognize the levels of social violence, and the earthquakes of 2001. potential symbolic value of active support for El Salvador during He came instead to promote the consolidation of its peace and would respond out of a sense of an initiative to create a Central moral responsibility. America Free Trade Agree- The president and his administration have disappointed the ment (CAFTA) as a further step Salvadorans on this score. In emphasizing the importance of free towards a hemisphere-wide Free trade, Clinton followed a path already well-worn by the Bush Trade Area (FTA). The FTA is administration. the prescription offered by the After Chapultepec, the US exerted diplomatic pressure less US government to solve Latin frequently and effectively as El Salvador slipped lower on the America’s economic and politi- foreign policy agenda. During a series of Washington meetings cal problems. between AID officials and NGO representatives in 1993 and The day of the visit held its 1994, AID staff regularly expressed frustration at their inability to own tragic irony —March 24, draw the attention of top administration officials to the problems anniversary of the assassination of the Salvadoran Peace Accords. of Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo

Military defeat of the FMLN was the overriding priority of the Bush Romero in 1980. Many of

Reagan administration in El Salvador. Circumstances drove the Romero’s friends and colleagues were angered when the then- Bush administration to reconsider that priority to the point that Archbishop of San Salvador, Fernando Sáenz Lacalle, moved the ending the war became its primary goal. official memorial activities to March 23 to avoid clashing with The Clinton administration’s policy has emphasized a comple- the Bush visit. March 24 is sacred for hundreds of thousands of tion of the Peace Accords leading to political stability, but against Salvadorans and many were offended by the symbolism of hav- a regional emphasis on trade which leaves El Salvador with a ing the US president force the bouncing of Romero’s own feast very low profile. Barring a complete breakdown of the peace day. process and a resumption of the armed conflict, El Salvador Jesuit analyst Roberto Cañas wrote of Sáenz Lacalle’s deci- remained on the back burner of the foreign policy establishment. sion: “Thus, over 20 years after that dreadful assassination, the The State Department policy statement notes that, “During his Continued on next page

ed to separate the elections days, and will announced that the elections for Congres- sional deputies and mayors will be held on El Salvador Timeline January 18th, 2009, and the elec- election for the presidency with Salvador tion for President on March 15, 2009. This Snchez Ceron, a former guerrilla leader as was against tradition and the determination Vice President. They have chosen October of the FMLN, for elections on the same day 11, 2007 to make the announcement, a would see the very popular Mauricio Funes date commemorative of the FMLN offen- carry many other FMLN candidates to win sive on the capitol San Salvador. The right as deputies or mayors. has adopted the same tactic of consulting September – The special prosecutor in their bases and letting them decide the the Suchi 13 case requests a six-month candidate. extension, citing the complexity of the August- Electoral campaigns by the left case. as it promotes the credentials of Mauricio Six communities and more than 7,000 Funes for FMLN’s candidate for president. people in San Juan Opico are exposed A movement call “Friends of Mauricio to lead contamination produced by the Funes” has been launched, with backing of RECORD battery factory. Three years after moderates and business people. ARENA is the first denouncement, the state has not still determining whether to put as a candi- responded. The community demands that date Vilma de Escobar or Rodrigo Avila. the factory be closed. In a strategic move to help the cause of 2009 The year starts with the new gov- ARENA, The Electoral Council has decid- ernment taking over under the leadership of Mauricio in alliance with the FMLN and a cabinet with Gerson Martinez, Humberto Centeno Victoria Marina de Aviles, Manuel Melgar y Hugo Martinez and others. The FMLN, victorious in its political campaigns, also celebrates 35 years since its founding in the midst of the 12- year civil war. March-Mauricio Funes, the former CNN comentator and reporter, is elected the first FMLN president in the history of El Sal- vador, ending decades of rule by ARENA. Numerous challenges await Funes, who will have to deal with corruption in the trea- sury, ongoing violence in the streets and a landscape of economic uncertainty spelled out with the advent of CAFTA. Funes, who in reality is a moderate and centrist in most of his politics, is seen to be in alignment with the many other leftist leaders through- out Central and South America, and he receives criticism from numerous corners, including the United States. paramount concern to the regions’ presidents, Bush avoided ad- dressing it during his visit. Salvador-U.S. Policy The deeply entrenched poverty is not the only left over busi- ness of the war, however. Salvadorans are still living with a high Catholic hierarchy and the media are seeking to integrate Monsi- level of violence, this time criminal violence that has left more gnor Romero to a lower level, just as efforts were made in days of the population living in danger and insecurity than during the gone by to silence through violence his homilies of denunciation, war. prophecy and hope” (Envío, Central America University, Mana- The per capita murder rate remains one of the highest in the gua, Vol. 21, No. 248, March 2002). Fifty organizations joined hemisphere. There are plenty of guns left in the hands of civil- together to march in protest of Bush’s visit and his neoliberal ians, and criminal gangs have been on the rise over the past free trade agenda. An estimated 5,000 participated. The FMLN decade. released a statement opposing his visit. The National Civilian Police (PNC), created by the peace The Salvadoran government, led by the rightist National Re- accords to replace the repressive militarized police, has itself publican Alliance (ARENA), said Bush also chose El Salvador in become mired in accusations of abuse and corruption. And the order to highlight the country as a model for development and the judicial system, which was to be overhauled, remains ineffec- success of neoliberal, free trade policies. tive and out of reach for most Salvadorans. The prisons are filled The government has slashed the public sector, privatized state- with inmates who spend months and years awaiting trial, who owned utilities, and lowered barriers to foreign investment, as may or may not be innocent, and where time already served often prescribed by the model, laying off tens of thousands of workers exceeds the sentences they would receive if they were put on trial in the process and adding to the country’s chronic unemployment and convicted of their crimes. problem. Meanwhile, as President Bush and the Salvadoran elites con- As an example of a positive result, however, government of- tinued on course, the rest of the Salvadoran population reflected ficials note that exports from the maquilas have increased from on how little has changed despite a civil war, the end of official $796 million to $2.5 billion over the past ten years. While this has repression, the emergence of civilian government, and the peace generated thousands of jobs in factories assembling products for process. export, most of these jobs do not pay a living wage and include Roberto Cañas spoke with a community leader from Cinquera, few if any benefits for workers. Pablo Alvarenga, who summed up the current situation from the However, the economic elites servicing the growing foreign vantage point of the majority: “Before the war our lives were investment sector have seen their wealth grow markedly during controlled and now we can meet and say what we think, but the the same period. These elites form the core of the ARENA party, authorities turn a deaf ear: they don’t want to listen. The main the political partner favored by successive US governments in the change is that there is no more repression, we no longer have to promotion of the free trade regimen in the region. be nomads in our own country, but this change is starting to dissi- Civil society groups point out that, while it is true that neolib- pate and the new generations don’t appreciate it so much. Before eral policies flourish and exports have increased, the country is 1978 we lived in horrendous poverty. After the Peace Accords also one of the poorest in the hemisphere, while the gap between we’ve been economically restricted by in which rich and poor has widened what we produce is worth less and less. In short, peace didn’t While President Bush’s visit put a brief spotlight on El Sal- change the basic problems. The structure remained intact, which vador, in reality the country has largely been relegated to the means that everything ends up the same as before: we’re living in margins of US and international attention. The US bears no small poverty.” burden of responsibility for El Salvador’s social and political Today, the jury remains out on just what the relationship with problems having been the chief benefactor of the military dicta- the United States and El Salvador means under an Obama admin- torship that ruled the country with an iron fist for decades. istration. In the early part of 2011, Obama paid a one-day visit to El Salvador, visiting Archbishop Romero’s tomb -- the first time Major export: people a U.S. President had done so. But the vist was marred by jour- nalists querying Obama about his decision to engage the United While the Salvadoran government works to address poverty in States military in a conflict with Libya. the country, most Salvadorans see little benefit. And indeed the The theme of the day was the Arab Spring, not a particular country is becoming known for its chief export — its people. Ac- focus on Central or South America, and certainly not much of cording to IPS, some 200-300 people leave the country each day, a look at El Salvador. Perhaps the most revealing interraction headed for the US or Europe in hopes of employment. between the U.S. government and states within Central America The government estimates that about 2.5 million Salvadorans can be viewed through the lens of the Honduran coup in 2009, live outside the country now. In 2001 they sent home $1.9 billion when Secretary of State Hilary Clinton moved at a snail’s pace in to their families, an economic lifeline for many Salvadorans who response to what was considered the illegal removal of that na- would not be able to survive without these remittances. tion’s duly elected president, Manuel Zelaya. This is one reason why the Salvadoran government pleads Although Obama in 2011 nears the end of his first term in constantly to the US government to continue the temporary status office, it remains difficult to see what role Latin America and El that allows its nationals to live and work here. Officials are only Salvador will play in a second Obama administration, if there is too aware that the economy would likely collapse, and poverty to be such a thing. reach crisis proportions, if this lifeline were cut.

Interestingly, though the issue of immigration and permission (Reports courtesy of Kevin Murray and Margaret Swedish.) for Central American nationals to work legally in the US is of Education: The Struggle Continues in Rural El Salvador Reprinted from Salvanet, May-June 2002

t is 4:50 p.m. The principal swings the cord on a brass bell and the Iclanging bounces off the walls of the simple one-story white and blue brick building. Students in light blue tops and navy skirts or pants spill out of the nine open-air classrooms. Some crowd around teacher’s desks for test results, others head home to drop off their book bags. A group of girls prepares for soccer practice while boys in baseball caps toss Frisbees on a dirt field. One boy tutors some friends in math; in the next room a small group rehearses a theatre performance. This is the scene at the end of the school day in Santa Marta, a rural community in the northern hills of El Salvador. The kids means most of the 600 families in this sic, news, and participative programming, enrolled in kindergarten through ninth area survive by farming corn and beans. is run almost entirely by young volunteers. grade here seem pretty typical: they study From the age of 6 or 7, boys are expected Both Vilma, 18, and Esmeralda, 21, work math, science, language, and social stud- to work every day in the fields planted in several days a week to turn out the daily ies; they like to play sports, listen to mu- poor soil on steep, rocky hillsides. Girls local and national news on the air at noon. sic, hang out with friends. But the living are responsible for household chores like Elvis, 21, is a member of the production conditions in Santa Marta underscore the grinding corn with a rock to make tortillas, team that records educational spots and gap between their lives and those of kids scrubbing the family’s laundry by hand, programs whose themes vary from chil- in U.S. middleclass suburbs. More than 70 filling jugs of water at the communal dren’s rights to the dangers of agrochemi- percent of the population in this region of springs, and gathering logs of firewood to cals. Manuel, 18, and Leo, 16, are team the country live in poverty. Many family cook meals. leaders in the reforestation project; they homes are made of mud bricks or rusty In spite of the demands and challenges teach work groups how and where to plant pieces of corrugated tin. of everyday living, many of the kids of different kinds of trees and how to build Pigs, cows, and chickens are as com- Santa Marta voluntarily involve them- erosion barriers. Oscar, 19, is the president mon as people on the dirt roads and paths selves in other activities and take on more of the Monseñor Romero organization, that wind through the community. responsibility within the community. For whose purpose is to assess the needs of the There are scant job opportunities, which example, the local radio, which offers mu youth of the community and to promote

The Elusive Right to An youth participation. They recently received a grant to fix he Salvadoran Constitution guarantees free education from grades one through nine. But up the soccer field for the benefit of the the quality of education that is offered and its accessibility are questions that need to be community sports teams. William, 21, and examined. TMuch classroom time is spent with the teacher writing on the blackboard and students copy- Ramiro, 20, work with CoCoSi, the Com- ing in their notebooks. The educational practices that predominate in Salvadoran classrooms place mittee Against AIDS, a group of ten young the teacher as the center of learning and can be characterized primarily by exercising memory and people who travel to other rural communi- repetition. The idea that the classroom should be a place of opportunities, a place to challenge students ties doing workshops on AIDS and sexual- where they can make mistakes, whet their curiosity, and investigate has not really taken hold. ity. Morena, 18, works in a neighboring Accessibility is another great obstacle. In 1999, according to statistics from the Salvadoran Ministry community teaching adult literacy classes. of Education, only 62.1 percent of the school age population were being included in the educational But the biggest priority for each of system. these young people is following through The difference between rural and urban coverage is vast. The 2001 United Nations Human De- on their education. The right to education velopment Report for El Salvador shows that rural areas have 19.20 percent less school attendance than urban areas. The disparity is just as clear in terms of educational levels. Recent data shows little is something that has been and contin- change. Over half the rural population never receives instruction past the third grade. Only 4.5 percent ues to be a struggle in Santa Marta, as in make it to high school. In El Salvador, 25 percent or more of students that register for first grade never many communities in El Salvador. Before reach second grade. the Salvadoran civil war (1980-1992), In terms of how much the government invests in education, the United Nations Development the few schools in the area around Santa Program statistics rank El Salvador very low, even within Central America. Chile invests $1,400 per Marta only offered classes up to second student in a year while El Salvador only invests $200 per student. Each Salvadoran student receives 30 times less from their government than a student in the U.S.A. (Salvanet: 2002) Continued on next page Youth Under Attach in El Salvador: The Gang Question

Reprinted from Salvanet, Fall 2007 primary target, no one is safe. The result, shadow of the Guazapa volcano 20 miles reported to CRISPAZ representatives north of San Salvador. The lack of jobs he town of Aguilares was hard who visited the area in June 2007, is an and education here has sent emigration hit by El Salvador’s civil war, ever-growing number of egregious human rates skyrocketing. Most working-age men T a center of conflict between the rights violations against youth and a ter- have already emigrated to San Salvador and FMLN guerillas. rorized community. or the US; it is virtually impossible to find Memories of being caught in the middle Aguilares has around 35,000 inhabit- a man between 25 and 55 on the streets. still resonate strongly. Residents speak ants and lies in the hot, flat plains in the Continued on next page of balmy evenings when FMLN fighters would quietly drift through their yards after dusk, occasionally asking for water or something to eat. Many also remember Education: The Struggle Continues

the National Police raiding or looting their grade. Even then, many parents felt it was homes and falsely accusing them of being too dangerous to let their children walk guerilla sympathizers. alone through the hills to reach the People celebrated the 1992 Peace Ac- schools. Today, as a result, the adult cords and hoped that the agreement would illiteracy rate in the area is more than 40 lead to the establishment of peace. Today, percent. however, with much of the original glean Currently, studying high school means of the Accords now tarnished, residents traveling at least an hour by bus. The cost of report being caught in a different kind of school fees, transportation, food, and school crossfire. On the surface, it looks like a books and supplies make conflict between police—now known as it nearly impossible for most people. the National Civil Police (or PNC)—and Studying at university level is even more El Salvador’s notorious gangs. (It should difficult, with most universities located be noted here to delegation-goers that a four hour bus ride away in the capital, CRISPAZ takes every means possible to San Salvador. avoid coming into contact with gangs, The kids envision how the community primarily by avoiding travel in gang-led could benefit from more access to higher neighborhoods.) education. They talk about the people of But residents here report that, like the Santa Marta becoming more organized and conflict in the 1980’s, police actions often learning to work together more effectively affect, if not target, the general civil- on projects for their own development. ian population, and while youth are the They see themselves becoming better

stewards of the environment and practic- ing better waste management. They en- vision the formation of good community leaders who act responsibly on behalf of all members of the community. Ramiro says that “education is a primary factor in waking up people’s minds, and it can decide each person’s future. Through education, you can learn how the world works, how people live, and you can decide how you want to live within the world.” These kids dream about training for careers that could help them address their most immediate concerns for the community. But these goals can seem staggeringly unrealistic. In addition to the cost and inaccessibility of educa- tion, there is the question of culture and family expectations. The campesinos, or peasant farmers, of Santa Marta have traditionally worked the land to survive. It can be difficult to focus on the importance of long-term goals of education and com- munity development in the face of the im- mediate need to work the fields in order to put food on the table. Another challenge is the migration trend that leads many young people, especially males, to attempt to enter the United States and work illegally. Desperate for opportunities to earn money and provide better living condi- tions for their families, they risk their lives for the chance to work long hours, often poorly paid, washing dishes or doing construction, a decision that usually means the end of studies. The youth of Santa Marta have the vision, motivation, and love for their families and community to want to work for local development. They want to work for better access to healthcare, better care and preservation of natural resources, healthy family and community relation- ships, better community leadership and personal responsibility among the commu- nity members. They are already leaders in their community and catalysts for change. But to sustain these initiatives, they need to find support. The 22 young people who graduated from ninth grade this year continue to be hopeful that their education has not come to an end. Leo says he plans to “study as much as I can, exhaust all of my opportu- nities, before thinking about the possibility that one day I might have to try to go to the U.S.” In spite of the many obstacles before them, they are encouraged by the knowledge that they have come this far; until two years ago, the option to attend ninth grade did not exist. Standing proudly with their diplomas, their commitment to find a way to make their goals happen is apparent.

Youth Under Attack Women head the majority of households and raise the children. They also tend to care for the elderly in the community. The rutted road that runs along the abandoned train tracks leads to the only human rights center in Aguilares. A larger- than-life portrait of Padre Rutilio Grande graces the Center’s main entrance way. Fa- ther Grande was named the Aguilares par- ish priest in 1972, and worked and lived alongside the community until he was martyred, together with two co-workers, on March 12, 1977. “His example inspires us today,” says “Don Jaime,” the Center’s current director, as he gently gestures toward the portrait.

If Jesus of Nazareth Returned… A month before his assassination, Fr. (iron fist) policy, says Nieves, police TG, 36, told how her son, Marvin, 17, Grande said, “If Jesus of Nazareth re- received a carte blanche to act as they was forced to leave home after police en- turned, coming down from Chalatenango wanted. President Tony Saca went even tered and beat him so badly that he spent to San Salvador, I dare say he would not further with Super Mano Dura. The latter two months in the hospital. He now fears arrive, with his preaching and actions, gives police the right to arrest anyone for living in Aguilares/Paisnal and stays with even to ; they would arrest him for “illicit association”—essentially without family members in a nearby town. being a subversive and would crucify him pretext—and hold them for a maximum MZ, 28, spoke of how police entered again.” of 72 hours. Nieves and the other mothers her home without a warrant and arrested Apopa lies roughly halfway between of COFAMI complain that police consider her younger brother and two other boys, Aguilares and San Salvador. Blanca all youth to be gang members and subject accusing them of being gang members. Nieves, director of COFAMI, surmises them to beatings or arbitrary arrests at any They were later released after the 72-hour that given the levels of police aggression given moment. Many youth do not leave limit passed. today, there’s no way he’d have made it their homes except for the most essential even as far as Aguilares. “The police have tasks, such as going to school and church. A community response forgotten that they are here to serve the Even now, under the leadership of Presi- The mothers of COFAMI and Don dent Mauricio Funes, the government has public and protect us from harm, not cause Jaime work tirelessly to defend the rights us harm. Their arrogance has led them to begun to rely on armed soldiers patrolling of youth in Aguilares. Blanca told CRIS- in groups as a means of dealing with youth believe they are invincible,” she said. “We PAZ representatives of one evening when and gangs. are here to teach them that there are rules she received a phone call from a young Nieves led CRISPAZ representatives for respecting the people of this commu- man informing her that the police had to La Cabaña Cantón in the neighbor- nity.” surrounded a group of teenage boys in the COFAMI stands for “the Committee ing municipality of Paisnal, where local soccer field. She went house to house ask- residents told their stories of police abuse of Families and Friends of Youth at High ing for all the mothers and elderly women and violence. It seemed as if everyone had Risk.” It is a group of mothers in Aguil- to accompany her to the soccer field. This either had or was related to someone who ares who organized to defend the rights of group of courageous, middle-aged women had had a negative run-in with the police. the kids in Aguilares and the surrounding walked calmly on the field, parting the sea cantones (villages). Blanca tells countless In one of the more dramatic stories, of police officers. Marta Alicia Rivera spoke of how her stories of arbitrary arrests of the area’s Each woman linked arms or held hands 15- year-old son, who suffered from asth- young men. with two young men and escorted them ma, was beaten when he had the misfor- Even in cases where gang members are past the officers and safely to their homes. tune of being caught in a random round-up arrested, police rarely provide proof of a Parents call Don Jaime on a daily basis of youth on the street. crime or just cause for arrest. COFAMI to report human rights abuses. Together, When he was subsequently interrogated, accompanies youth when they are arrested Don Jaime and the women of COMFAMI he became nervous and his asthma acted and serves as an ad hoc legal advocate for work day and night to stop the violence up. Desperately trying to inhale, he could them, as most families aren’t familiar with and abuse and to create safe communi- not answer police questions. the legal system, much less able to afford ties where youth can attend school, go to They beat him in his chest, further adequate council. work, and play soccer without fear of the bruising his lungs. He was not arrested, With the implementation of former police. president Francisco Flores’ Mano Dura but was taken to the hospital, instead. Ri- vera’s son died less than two weeks later. A Place of Our Own: Women Coming Together in San Vincente From Salvanet, 2004

nder the shade of a ceiba tree, a team of four women U pull together some borrowed plastic chairs to plan the next meeting of the women’s group in the community of San Francisco in the department of San Vicente. Aracely, Paty, and Doris are the group’s elected leadership team; the fourth woman is “Juanita,” or Mary Jane Mitchell, a CRISPAZ volunteer who has been living and working for the past two years in

San Francisco. The leadership team was elected to give direction to the group and plan meetings, along with Mary Jane, who encourages the women, helps them get organized, and works with them to give shape to their goals and to find the resources they need to fulfill them. Under the ceiba seems as good a meet- ing place as any for the moment; the group continually faces the challenge of finding ages ranging from 15 to 70. “It’s a space flected in the story of Mencha,” says Paty. available meeting spaces, initially coming for us women to get away from the house, The decision to elect leaders came as together in the church and later moving forget about things for a while, be together the group took shape and began looking from one house to another within the com- and sing and laugh,” says Doris. Group towards the future. A quick and undisputed munity. Homes, and land, are at a premi- meetings usually focus on a theme, from vote put Paty, Doris, and Aracely at the um in this village that suffered devastating personal development to women’s roles in front of the group, along with Paty’s sister, damages during the 2001 earthquakes. the community. Yolanda, who has since withdrawn as a The majority of homes in the commu- The group has group leader. nity were shaken to the ground, leaving received help “It feels good to know people trust families homeless and traumatized. It from the Equipo in you, but it’s a lot of responsibility; it was in the aftermath of the quake that the Maíz popular makes you want to work hard and to not women’s group was born. “We were so education team let the others down,” says Doris. depressed and sad,” remembers Aracely. who have visited Foremost among the dreams of the There was no alegría (joy), she says. With the community group is the desire to begin a cooperative Mary Jane’s help, the women began com- on several oc- that would give them the opportunity to ing together in the church and recounting casions to give work and earn money for their families. their stories of the earthquake. “Juanita” workshops on The group has begun visiting women’s

“As each person would tell their story, self-esteem, sexuality, and, most recently, cooperatives in other parts of the country they would start crying, like they were natural medicine. Paty says the meetings to learn from these women’s experiences reliving it,” says Aracely. “By the time have helped the women learn to express and help them envision their own future they were done, the rest of us couldn’t themselves and see themselves as actors project. For now the group is focused on speak because we were crying with them.” within the structure of the community. finding a meeting place, a space of their Aracely admits that initially women came In one meeting, the women read the own to give them a sense of stability and to the group hoping it was the beginning story of Mencha, a girl who wanted to be permanence. In a place where resources of a project where they might be able to the president of the country but her family are scarce and some families are still wait- get a new house. Once they realized that did not have enough money for her to go ing to rebuild homes almost three years the group was not about housing projects to school. With a lot of hard work and de- after the earthquakes, the goal of finding but rather about convivencia, bringing termination, Mencha grew up and became a piece of land and building a women’s women together to share their experiences the president of the community’s board group center will take some time. But they and hopes, attendance lagged. But more of directors. Immediately the men began are determined to achieve their dreams. than a year later, the group has planted talking badly about her and she wanted to roots and defined itself. Attendance can be quit, but the other women encouraged her (Sister Mary Jane Mitchell, “Juanita,” anywhere between 10 to 25 women, with to stay. “We saw a little bit of ourselves re was a long-term volunteer for CRISPAZ.) Indifference Towards Violence Against Women by Women for Dignity and Life: Program to Eradicate Violence

l Salvador is immersed in a spiral of social violence, which E is intimately tied to the end of the armed conflict and to the country’s economic, political, and social realities. We constantly hear expressions of concern about violence. These concerns include a general sense of insecurity, violation of human rights, and a violent environment. However, these concerns are not seen as obstacles for the country’s democratization and development.

For the women’s movement, the con- cept of violence is important to our work to eradicate subordination. What is hidden behind the violence expressed towards or not enforced in the spirit in which it rather than the aggressor for these acts of women is a devaluation of women and an was elaborated. If those who enforce the violence. The aggressor goes unquestioned attitude that we are the property of men. law tolerate violence, or if they see the by society and by state institutions with This results in the paralysis of women’s phenomenon of violence as something their bureaucratic processes. Prejudices autonomy on a societal level. This struggle personal rather than as a social ill, the law color the treatment of these female victims has been our task as a women’s movement does not work. and in some cases the women are even during the 1990s. The new law does not aim to punish, victimized a second time by the person We have publicly expressed our stance: rather to avoid an increase in violence. Im- that is supposedly helping them. Society violence against women is a social mediately after the Salvadoran Penal Code as a whole is absolved of all responsibility. problem and is related to an imbalance was enacted, Article 200 was reformed This is despite the fact that it is society of power in relationships which can be giving priority to acts of violence that are that is teaching us violence, gives privi- characterized as hierarchical and unequal, considered “criminal,” and putting cases lege to being a man, and assigns complete and which marginalize women. Despite of violence which call for a measure of responsibility of relationships to women. the fact that cases are being reported and protection or efforts to reduce violence According to data on intrafamily violence that there are efforts to make violence on the back burner. There are dramatic registered by the Family Court System’s against women more visible, the problem daily news stories about things that are Psychological Attention Center, there were continues to be invisible to society and to happening in homes. No sensationalism is 558 cases reported in 1998, with the high- the state institutions who choose to blame required in their coverage. In the majority est number of cases seen in March, Febru- family disintegration on a “loss of values.” of these cases, women are the victims of ary, and June. However, these are just the The women’s movement has been violence. cases reported at one institution. We can involved in the creation of a Law Against However, the news does not report on assume that a similar number of cases Intra-family Violence. This law was ap- the ongoing violence that women face were also reported at the General Court, proved in 1996 in a spirit of eradicating over many years or ways in which they the Peace Court, and to the National Civil- violence. Since the law was passed, we can get out of these continuous cycles of ian Police. have been closelyinvolved in making sure violence. The news stories give us the At The Dignas, we are concerned about that the law is being carried out. We have message that we are eternally destined to the number of cases of sexual violence seen some areas of weakness, primarily a live with violence. We are seen as ignorant that are being reported in the newspapers, lack of enforcement. and incapable of transforming our reality. which are generally characterized as ag- There are many cases where women The woman’s body is something that gressions against women. have been denied protection. This places is usually ignored, misunderstood and In a recent case in which a father them in even greater risk. The Belem Do kept covered, even when it is her body confessed to having attacked his daughter, Para Convention was also approved in that is the target of violence. It is as if the the judge found the man innocent. This is 1994. This recognizes that violence is a woman’s physical existence transcends an example of society’s tolerance for this violation of human rights and fundamental what is human, as if women were beings and other types of violence that we face as liberties. When this Convention is ratified that were able to endure any kind of ag- women. by a country, it becomes law. It is often gression because there are outside forces We have a long way to go in working times not enough to have a law in place. making decisions about her body. for a society that offers security for both The law is useless if it is not understood The tendency is to blame the woman men and women. Our People Are Scattered and Forsaken: Letter from the Churches Excerpts from the Pastoral Letter from the Salvadoran Ecumenical Movement people who only want to defend their right to live. September 3, 2007 ...We are especially alarmed that the Salvadoran State, in Reprinted from Salvanet Fall 2007 response to public protest, uses reactionary measures and harsher laws. More than speeches and publicity campaigns, the crisis we “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, be- are living demands that State policies be generated which will cause they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a resolve the issues responsibly and requires that the government, shepherd.” Matthew 9:36 manage seriously and decisively the different problems which the Salvadoran people face. To: All Salvadorans of good will Our God of LIFE can NOT be in agreement with a State whose To: The three branches of the Salvadoran government: Executive, relationship with its citizens is marked by dangerous political Legislative and Judicial polarization leading to greater confrontation and deepening of To: The Churches of the World intolerance in the country. Jesus asks us to denounce the great To: Governments and Diplomats accredited in El Salvador suffering that the people are living through, he shows us the deep To: The United Nations, The Organization of American States, love that he has for us and calls on us to raise our voice, to give a International Organizations and International Solidarity message of hope and inspires us to act together, ecumenically and in solidarity, pacifically but energetically to face these structural issues. It is not through harsher laws and persecution of the Sal- ‘El Salvador Alert’ vadoran people that these problems will be resolved. The mission proposed is to change all of the conditions that e have entitled this letter: “El Salvador Alert”, violate life and to build relations based on the values of truth, because we live from crisis to crisis, from emer- honesty, justice, responsibility and human solidarity. The sense W gency to emergency, of disasters caused by natural, of compassion and solidarity that Jesus had for his people is the political, economic and social phenomenon. In the face of emer- same thing that moves us today in relation to our people who are gency and crisis, the recommendation is to “Stay Alert”. “Alert”, forsaken and scattered. We must build new relationships where an expression of security that means to be awake, ears open, national unity becomes an unstoppable and necessary process. mind clear to be able to God’s justice with God’s glimpse and distinguish people is an ethical and the danger which threat- evangelical imperative... ens us. We firmly commit to To be alert to denounce continue walking with sin without forgetting to and accompanying the proclaim the Good News outcry of the poor, heard of an Abundant and True in public protest, and Life. (Matthew 25:46 and warn those who boast Romans 1:17) of their political and Fifteen years after the economic power in this Peace Accords (when country that no recon- this letter was written), ciliation is possible if the unjust conditions the source of evil is not of life persist due to exterminated, as we have unequal distribution of seen in the history of wealth. The country has humankind. The time has neither food security nor come to put the interests social security. The Millennium Goals cannot be fulfilled; on the of the nation over and above the interests of individuals, groups contrary, there is a general deepening of poverty. The government and sectors, let us put aside economic, political and religious has completely abandoned agriculture and the industrial sector partisanship and special interests. (Ephesians 4: 3-4) grows at pace disproportionately slow to that of the informal Finally, we ask the God of Life to strengthen us to respond economy. The main source of support are the remittances sent in a manner consistent with our faith, as committed Christians, back from almost three million Salvadorans who have emigrated continuing to sow hope amongst ourselves and with those who to the United States and other parts of the world. have placed their hope in us. Let us work towards consensus and Our youth are victims and perpetrators of the violence that action...as salt and light in this country, in order to build a society dominates the country; violence which reaches all levels and based on the values of the Reign of God, which sustain a true parts of society. And there is also institutional violence which democracy, the dignity of life and better social, economic and facilitates organized crime, gangs, corruption and impunity. We political conditions. continue to accumulate debt and maintain low budgets for social Our pastoral call: spending. And when social groups and ecologists protest, they are 1. To the Salvadoran people: come together in a true encounter repressed, taken as political prisoners, as “terrorists”. They are Continued on next page Women in Maquilas Work in Unsafe Conditions, Without Knowing Their Rights Canal Solidario Catalunya, www.canalsolidario.org employees in this type of factory are women, many of whom January 31, 2002; Translated by Patricia Adams are under 18 years of age. The majority live alone or with their children in housing which, in general, is not located in proximity omen working in maquilas in El Salvador work to the factory; they have a basic level of education and have huge more than 9 hours each day, in dreadful conditions economic necessities. W and for minimum wages. Few businesses invest in For these women working in a maquila is supposed to “cover safety and many employees do not know their basic rights. a fourth of the cost of a family’s needs,” but as members of Las Anita is Salvadoran and, like other women in her country and Melidas affirm, “the problem is that those jobs are generated throughout Central America, works in a maquila. While at work, under unfavorable working conditions in relation to other sectors a needle pierced through her thumb. Her supervisor approached of the economy.” her, cleaned the blood, wrapped the finger in a rag and, instead of According to the report, the median number of weekly hours telling her to consult with the infirmary, ordered her to continue is 47 and can even be as high as 79 hours a week, not including working. Like Anita, dozens of women everyday puncture their overtime. Along those lines, more than 70% of women work un- fingers with needles in the textile maquilas of El Salvador. Oth- der a goal system, meaning that if they do not achieve a predeter- ers suffer from respiratory problems, muscular troubles, skin mined goal they are not paid. diseases, and symptoms of stress from the fast pace of production Added to this is the fact that, before being contracted, more and long workdays. than two-thirds of the women are subjected to a pregnancy test, All these facts have been brought to light by Las Melidas, the although “it is more common to hear that women workers have Melida Anaya Montes Women’s Movement in its report Worker been fired for being pregnant.” Safety in the Workplace, Maquila Sector, 2001, which is based on Seventy percent of the female employees in Salvadoran ma- 260 surveys with women laborers in 75 different firms. quilas working under these conditions assume a major risk for The maquilas are assembly enterprises within free trade zones contracting illnesses and suffering constant accidents. After hours in Latin America and the Caribbean. In El Salvador, maquila of ironing and washing, workers suffer pain in their arms, “that business plays a large role in the economy, since it employs with time can become arthritis.” around 80,000 people (in 2002) in the formal sector and “twice The act of looking over material or individual articles of cloth- that in the informal sector,” and that is why “its inexistence ing in areas with very little lighting strains the workers’ vision, would bring about an increase in the prevailing social pressure,” causing suffering from headaches that, with time, can develop the report indicated. The dreadful fact of life in El Salvador is into more serious illnesses. that, bad as they are, maquilas often are the only source of em- The most frequent problems are respiratory, muscular, and ployment for women. stomach- or nerve-related, all of which are added to “some type Although men also work in maquilas, more than 85% of the of abuse” towards 8.2% of workers. Our People Are Scattered and Forsaken: Letter from the Churches of El Salvador as a nation, making possible an understanding between brothers protagonists of a democratic and just nation. and sisters who are sons and daughters of God (Isaiah 44: 1-5) 7. To the governments of the world, the United Nations, the and that this be the foundation on which to build a broad social Organization of American States, international organizations, the movement of national unity. world Church, international solidarity, to our friends: we ask for 2. To the academic and scientific communities: play a more your solidarity in order to decisively support the building of a active role in the debate, analysis and proposals for the course model of democracy which will guarantee peace with justice in which the country should take as an alternative to the crisis. El Salvador. 3. To the for-profit sector and big business: propose policies which will reactivate the productive base and fulfill your tax obli- Sincerely, gations, so that all Salvadorans, especially young people can find a future in their own country and not in distant lands. Episcopal Anglican Church of El Salvador 4. To the political parties: change confrontational stances to Lutheran Church of El Salvador more responsible positions which propose governmental poli- Emmanuel Baptist Church cies that contribute to a course of development, social economic Calvinist Reformed Church of El Salvador justice and social coexistence for the country. J.P.I.C.- Franciscans 5. To the three branches of government: maintain independence Pro Búsqueda each from the other and facilitate the participation of citizens cre- Baptist Federation of El Salvador FEBES ating civilized and democratic opportunities within a institutional Conference of men and women Religious of El Salvador framework so that as Salvadorans we can build a better future. (CONFRES) 6. To all churches and religions in this country: take on the CLAI Latin American Council of Churches- El Salvador compassionate love of God, accompanying actively the process Coordinator of the Church of the Poor in El Salvador (CEIPES) towards national consensus in which our brothers and sisters, and Arab-Muslim Community of El Salvador in a preferential manner the most humble and needy, become the